After the Giants came out of the gates rapidly requesting interviews with general manager candidates around the league, things seemed to finally slow down on Wednesday.
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Now comes the actual interviews. The Giants requested interviews with nine candidates, and two of them — Joe Schoen and Adrian Wilson — conducted their virtual interviews with co-owner John Mara, his brother Chris Mara and co-owner Steve Tisch. That trio is expected to be present for all of the interviews.
A few more of the Zoom sessions will take place on Thursday, and the rest likely through the rest of the weekend.
But which candidates out of the nine interviewees make the most sense as the potential replacement for the fired — err, retired — Dave Gettleman?
We ranked all nine candidates:
9. Ran Carthon (dir. of player personnel, 49ers): Carthon, 40, is the son of former Giants fullback Maurice Carthon, who won a pair of Super Bowl rings with Big Blue. His primary experience is through pro scouting so he’s limited in his college scouting background this early in his career, but he’s a rising candidate.
8. Quentin Harris (VP of player personnel, Cardinals): Harris, 44, was an NFL safety for six years and actually spent training camp with the Giants in 2006. He has pro and college scouting experience, which is appealing, but there are others on this list with more experience and more of a proven track record.
7. Ryan Cowden (VP of player personnel, Titans): Cowden, 43, has worked under GM Jon Robinson — one of the best in the league — since 2016 after a long time in the Panthers organization. He actually worked a couple years for Gettleman in Carolina. Cowden, per The Athletic, has “a lot of say” in Titans personnel decisions and oversees the scouting department.
6. Adrian Wilson (VP of pro personnel, Cardinals): A former Pro Bowl safety that became a scout immediately after his playing career ended has quickly ascended through the ranks in Arizona to become Steve Keim’s righthand man. Now Wilson, 42, is in the pro personnel side of things and his experience in both sides of scouting is certainly a positive. He’s one of the more inexperienced candidates on the list, but intriguing nonetheless.
5. Monti Ossenfort (dir. of player personnel, Titans): Ossenfort, 43, was a top candidate when it looked like Joe Judge was going to stick around as coach considering they past Patriots-based relationship. Now that Judge is gone, Ossenfort is still a worthy candidate for the job. Executives with Patriots ties have found more success than Bill Belichick’s coaching tree, and Ossenfort has learned from both Belichick and Robinson. He scouts college players and pro players, and also has an important role in Titans free agency. The Giants could certainly do worse.
4. Ryan Poles (dir. of player personnel, Chiefs): Poles, 36, is the youngest candidate on this list — and a whole 34 years younger than Gettleman when he retired. The age isn’t a reflection of experience, though. He’s been in the Chiefs organization for 11 years learning from the likes of Andy Reid, Brett Veach, John Dorsey and Scott Pioli. He oversees the college scouting department and has been more involved in free recently. The Chiefs have long been one of the most well-run organizations and their approach to drafting — derived from Reid — is something the Giants should be adapting.
3. Joe Hortiz (dir. of player personnel, Ravens): Hortiz, 46, has been in Baltimore for 24 years and has run the team’s draft for a long time, including when Ozzie Newsome was still around. Now he oversees both pro and college scouting. There probably isn’t an organization that drafts better than the Ravens, and the Giants need to hit on their draft picks this year — especially with limited salary cap space — more than ever.
2. Adam Peters (assistant GM, 49ers): Peters, 42, started out as a scout with the Patriots, worked his way up through the Broncos organization and then John Lynch brought him over to the 49ers to be the assistant VP of player personnel in 2017. He’s loved by players — which doesn’t necessarily matter much — and lauded for his scouting ability. He’s been credited with unearthing star tight end George Kittle and helped build the 49ers into one of the league’s most talented rosters over the last few years. There are some that believe he might bring Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with him, which might make him more or less appealing, depending on your perspective.
1. Joe Schoen (assistant GM, Bills): Schoen, 42, feels like the early favorite. He had the first interview with Giants brass and considering who is running the interviews — John Mara, Chris Mara and Steve Tisch — the fact that he’d likely get an endorsement from Bill Parcells could work wonders. His connection to Parcells shouldn’t be viewed as a negative, obviously. He’s a bright mind and a crucial part of the front office that turned the Bills from a bad team to a Super Bowl contender while learning under Brandon Beane, one of the NFL’s best general managers. He was a big part of the 2018 process that led to Buffalo drafting Josh Allen — the same year the Giants picked Saquon Barkley. The prospect of him bringing offensive coordinator Brian Daboll with him as head coach only makes him even more appealing.
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Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com.
