In the 2019 NFL draft, the New York Giants picked Duke quarterback Daniel Jones over Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins, and some people feel Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey implied on Twitter that the move was racially-driven.
Jones is white and Haskins is black.
After the Giants made the selection of Jones with the sixth pick overall, Ramsey tweeted, “I bet If Dwayne was… nvm @Jaguars on the clock .”
NVM means “never mind.”
Jacksonville picked Kentucky defensive end Josh Allen, and Haskins slipped to 15, where he was selected by the Washington Redskins.
Sportswriter Darrelle Lincoln of TotalSports.com wrote about Ramsey’s tweet: “The Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback took to Twitter and implied that [Haskins] would’ve went a lot sooner if he was a different race. He didn’t finish the tweet, but it didn’t take much to catch on to where he was going with it.”
Some of Ramsey’s Twitter followers took umbrage with his alleged implication.
“Don’t race bait homie, special night for these players,” tweeted Braves Szn.
“Bruhhh you’re better than this. Dwayne is a dynamic player and the Giants made the mistake not taking him, but race has nothing to do wit it,” tweeted Dat Kid Los.
Some people agreed with Ramsey’s supposed implication.
“Gotta agree here, even as a white male. We have to shatter these stereotypes. It’s disgraceful,” tweeted Nick Seip.
“Yup your right. If [Haskins] was white he would be in the [Hall of Fame] already according to the ‘experts,’ but conversely if he put up the same stats at Duke that Jones did he WOULDN’T EVEN GET DRAFTED,” tweeted Chandler Knight.
But other people pointed out the first player picked overall in the 2019 NFL draft was a black quarterback, Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray, selected by Arizona.
“Black QB literally went #1 overall lmao [laugh my ass off],” tweeted Lonely Plebian.
“But wasn’t a black QB drafted 1 overall?” tweeted Zane Psyk.
However, other people were quick to point out they feel Ramsey was referring just to the New York Giants worldview, not the entire league.
“No lie when it comes to the Giants, you may have a point,” tweeted Will King.
“There’s fact to this. He’s not saying for the league, he’s saying for that organization. When’s the last time the Giants in history had a serious black QB? I’ll wait,” tweeted Tez Ice 1318.
Several fans jumped in saying that Geno Smith started for the Giants in 2017, the first black quarterback to start for them. He ended up starting just one game.
Putting race aside, Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman has taken a lot of heat, not necessarily for picking Jones over Haskins, but for picking Jones sixth overall, way too high in the view of some draft analysts.
“I think it was a big mistake, I really do” said ESPN’s Todd McShay. “I think at that point, go defense. There were plenty of good defensive players on the board – just don’t go quarterback.”
McShay added, “I just think this is a massive reach. Look, one day [Jones] can develop into an adequate starter, but that is the best you are going to get in my opinion. You are taking that player at six – not a fan of the pick.”
Neither was Ramsey, but perhaps for a different reason.
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