The NFL Draft always changes the lives of players, impacting them, their families, and the teams that drafted them for years to come. This year, however, held a more significant meaning for the New York Jets and New York Giants. Last season was, arguably, one of the worst in New York football history. The Jets, although expected to finish winless, compiled a record of 5-11, while the Giants, who were supposed to make a run into the playoffs and possibly contend for the NFC title, underwhelmed across the board, finishing the season with a measly 3-13 record, which was good for second-worst in the league behind only the Cleveland Browns, which is not good company to be in.

However, this lackluster performance during the season put both New York-based franchises in excellent position for the 2018 NFL Draft. The Giants had the number two overall pick, marking the Big Blue’s first return to the top five of the draft since 2004, where they selected Phillip Rivers, who was famously and swiftly traded to San Diego in exchange for Eli Manning. Manning has since started almost every game for the Giants since 2004, winning two Super Bowl titles over the New England Patriots.

The debate over who the Giants should select was a heated one. Many fans felt strongly that with Manning at the twilight of his career, the Giants should draft a quarterback, and no better a year than this, where the incoming draft class was loaded with talent and potential at the QB position. After the Browns selected Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick, a surprise and outrage to many loyal Browns fans and executives league-wide, the Giants were on the clock. In the end, new General Manager Dave Gettleman made it clear that he wants the Giants to be a team who controls the ball with its powerful run game by selecting former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley, who is considered the best overall player in this year’s draft. Barkley has long been touted as a generational talent for his absurd versatility and athleticism, in addition to his good-guy personality and corporate likeability.

With Barkley off the board, the Jets were up. The Jets have a long history with quarterbacks at the NFL Draft, having the unfortunate luck of passing up on future Hall of Fame quarterbacks on several occasions (Dan Marino in 1984, Warren Sapp in 1995, the list goes on). However, the Jets would make no such mistake this time, as they selected USC quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold, a physically gifted player with great accuracy but lackluster throwing mechanics, was the consensus number-one choice after a phenomenal sophomore season at USC in 2016, which he closed out with a thrilling 52-49 victory over Barkley in the Rose Bowl, throwing for 453 yards and five touchdowns. However, a weakened offensive line and younger receivers affected Darnold’s play in 2017, as he recorded a staggering 22 turnovers, which opened the gate for the number-one pick in the draft. Despite this, Darnold has arguably the highest potential of any quarterback in the draft if he can find his rhythm from two years ago.

Did the Jets and Giants make the right calls? Only time will tell. Maybe in ten years, the best quarterback from this year’s class could be an undrafted free agent. Or, it could be Darnold, Barkley, or Mayfield. All we can say for certain is this: hopefully New York teams won’t have high draft picks for a long time.