Dave Gettleman needs to fall in love with a Quarterback of the Future, and he needs to fall in love with him now.
You have to have conviction on a quarterback, you cannot draft one just for the sake of drafting one, and that was part of the reason why Saquon Barkley is a Giant and Sam Darnold is a Jet.
But someone, perhaps Tom Coughlin, will be falling in love with Dwayne Haskins, and the urgency for Gettleman to find a successor to Eli Manning has never been higher than it is now.
If the Eagles decide it is in their best interests to trade Nick Foles and keep him from free agency, they won’t be trading him to the Giants, and in that case Manning should return as the bridge quarterback.
Gettleman’s “very honest and up-front” conversation with Manning the day after another season out of the playoffs should grease the skids in a perfect world for Manning serving in the Kurt Warner role that Warner served for him during his rookie 2004 season.
Gettleman has a chance to extricate himself from Quarterback Hell if he can bring himself to sign off on what Haskins does well instead of passing on him because of what he doesn’t do well.
Gettleman has a 38-year-old quarterback and no guarantee he will be in position to draft Class of 2020 quarterbacks Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa or Jake Fromm.
He needs to start swinging for a franchise quarterback, and he needs to start swinging now.
The Giants have the sixth-overall pick, and Haskins is the best quarterback prospect in the 2019 draft.
“I would hurry up and move up,” former NFL cornerback Shawn Springs told The Post with a chuckle. “The kid is gonna be unbelievable when you see him at his [combine] workout. He’s gonna throw the ball all over the place.”
Like Haskins, Springs played at Ohio State before embarking on a 13-year NFL career at cornerback. Springs is the founder of an impact protection company called Windpact.
He first met Haskins, who was entering eighth grade, at a passing camp his son Skyler attended, and has been a fan ever since.
“I see Dwayne in line and I see my son in line, and my son throws like 30 yards, and this kid that’s behind him throws it like 60 yards,” Springs said with a laugh. “And I looked around in the stands and the only other person that was in the stands was Dwayne’s dad, Mr. Haskins. I was like, ‘Well, it’s gotta be his kid ’cause there’s only two black kids out here and there’s only two black parents.”
Haskins made the most of his Ohio State opportunity when J.T. Barrett left. A one-year starter, Haskins would benefit from learning behind Manning.
“He had to wait his turn,” Springs said. “He’s a student of the game, he would just soak it up, he would cheer him on and just wait his time.”
Haskins grew up a Giants fan in Piscataway, N.J.
“He’s not a person that is gonna get rattled,” Springs said. “He’s very calm, he’s real easy. He grew up in that area, so it’s not like it’s new to him, right? He gets it.”
Springs’ scouting report on Hawkins: “Big, strong, real live arm. Very smart. Very football savvy. Great command of the offense. When he was in eighth grade, he was like in high school; when he was in high school, he was like in college. And you saw, one year of college, man, he was like a pro out there.”
Haskins is not known for his mobility, but he’s not a statue either.
“He can extend plays … kind of like Ben Roethlisberger,” Springs said.
Manning’s successor will have the benefit of stepping into the huddle with an arsenal of skill-position receivers. And a talent Springs likens to “a big version of Barry Sanders” in Barkley.
“[Barkley is] a game-changer,” Springs said. “He’s gonna make any quarterback better.”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But he can no longer afford to gaze at a beautiful swan and see an ugly duckling instead.