Dave Gettleman does not spend his free time waterskiing over sharks, but he has more in common with the guy from the Dos Equis commercials than you might think. At least over the next few months, because Gettleman is the Most Interesting Man in the Draft thanks in large part to him holding the keys to the Giants No. 2 overall selection. 

That pick, which is New York's first top-five pick since it drafted Philip Rivers fourth overall and traded him for Eli Manning back in 2004, is going to create a domino effect regardless of which direction the Giants go.

New York has a plenty of options too, a Choose Your Own Adventure-style selection in front of it, with multiple paths the Giants could pursue depending on who Gettleman likes, what quarterback could fit with Pat Shurmur's offense and whether the Giants believe Manning can give them a few more quality seasons at quarterback.

There has never been a better time to need a quarterback and possess a top pick. This draft is loaded with talent, thanks to Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph all entering the draft process. But that combination of need and location also creates a fascinating economy for any team with a top pick and a veteran quarterback in place: the No. 2 pick is a much more valuable commodity than it might have been in any other year. 

Complicating matters is the presence of two top-tier prospects at positions of both need and interest to Gettleman: Saquon Barkley and Bradley Chubb did more than enough to bolster their already strong draft stock during the combine. Let's examine the options the Giants have in the coming months. 

Draft a Quarterback 

This is the obvious choice. This is the smart choice, because logic dictates the Giants will not be in this position again with this loaded a quarterback class. The idea that 2017 was a bad class ended up being dumb and it appears Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes could all be viable starters, so it's not like this will be the last year to ever acquire a quarterback. But 2018's class appears to have multiple potential franchise quarterbacks between Allen, Rosen, Darnold, Mayfield, Jackson and Rudolph. They won't all pan out, but Gettleman's job is to navigate the waters and to select the best possible quarterback to take over once Eli's done playing.

You just don't get many chances to get a franchise quarterback at the top of the draft if you're a well-run organization. The Giants are a well-run organization, despite some recent dysfunction. Even if you believe Manning, who will turn 38 at the end of this season, is capable of playing one or two more years, this is just about the perfect situation to get set up for the future. 

But winds are certainly swirling in a different direction right now. 

As Pete Prisco noted in a recent episode of the Pick Six Podcast (subscribe here on iTunes!), "the word is they're not going to take a quarterback." Prisco was speaking based on the buzz coming out of the combine, which has been largely confirmed from other reports around the league. 

Notable from the combine was Gettleman providing as much praise for backup quarterback Davis Webb as one can offer for a quarterback with no career regular season passing attempts.

"We liked [Webb] down in Carolina [when Gettleman was GM] in the draft. He is pretty highly-rated," Gettleman explained. "It is kind of like having a Christmas or a Hanukkah present that you get to unwrap eventually."

Webb didn't get a look when Manning's streak was broken during the debacle of 2017, but he was a third-round pick and a quarterback who was coveted by plenty of people before the 2017 NFL Draft. It's entirely possible Gettleman sees him as a potential successor to Eli, or at least someone worth developing in that way. 

If that's the case, the Giants have a quarterback for now, a quarterback for later -- or at least one worth gambling on -- and the opportunity to spin the No. 2 pick into a different resource.

The Superstar Running Back

It shouldn't have taken his performance at the combine for people to fall in love with Saquon Barkley, because this is what he did his entire career at Penn State. Barkley isn't a perfect prospect, even if one team told Peter King of TheMMQB.com they gave Barkley a perfect grade heading into the draft. 

It's understandable when you see his production on the field and compare it to his measurables.

Break Barkley down by college production and what he did at the combine and he's basically a stronger David Johnson who put up his numbers against more difficult competition with a year less of wear and tear. 

There is a very good argument for not taking running backs in the top five: even as good as Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette were for their respective teams, the Rams could have had Landon Collins/David Johnson, the Cowboys could have had Jalen Ramsey/Derrick Henry and the Jaguars could have had Deshaun Watson/Alvin Kamara by utilizing earlier picks on prospects they were interested in and spending draft capital on a running back later. That's a best-case scenario, of course, but it just points out there is value later at the running back position in recent years. 

On the other hand, Barkley might not be there at No. 2 for the Giants, with the Browns reportedly interested in taking him No. 1 overall. If Barkley does slide past the top spot, don't think for a second Gettleman won't pull the trigger. 

Just last year, he drafted Christian McCaffrey with the No. 8 pick overall in Carolina. All due respect to the Stanford product, but Barkley is a much more complete back. He's bigger, stronger and a guy you can feature an entire offense around. Carolina struggled to really utilize McCaffrey in the run game (he had 117 carries versus 113 targets). That won't be an issue with Barkley, who could become the focal point of Pat Shurmur's offense. 

Gettleman has no qualms about positional value.

"The bottom line is: is the guy a football player? This whole myth of devaluing running backs, I find it kind of comical. At the end of the day, if he's a great player, he's a great player. It doesn't matter what position he is," Gettleman explained at the combine. "Everyone has to understand that every player is important. That is why when you are looking at the second pick of the draft, which we are, the first thing we have to determine is, is this guy worthy of being the second pick of any draft? Not just this year's draft, of any draft. 

"You make that determination and you move forward. [The reporters from Carolina] have seen my act down there. If he's a great player, I don't care how stacked we are at the position, we are taking him. It is all about accumulating talent."

Lots of GMs tell lots of white lies, but Gettleman's been pretty true throughout his tenure running a front office: he is going to take the top guy on his board regardless of position. If Barkley is that guy, he'll take him.

And there's a viable argument for it from a football standpoint too. The Giants need to get better on the offensive line, but it's not hard to fathom a situation where Andrew Norwell, drafted by Gettleman, leaves Carolina in free agency and heads straight up the eastern seaboard to New York. Keep the veteran quarterback, lock down the superstar wide receiver, ink a Pro Bowl, mauling guard to a free-agent contract and draft the explosive rookie running back. That's a good formula to come out of the gates firing with Pat Shumur's offense in Year 1.

The Giants roster probably isn't built to contend right away, but they can certainly be competitive again in 2018. Barkley would help a lot in that regard.

Get the Hog Mollies

Another tenet of Gettleman's time in Carolina was his penchant for drafting some of the big boys who got down in the trenches, defensive and offensive linemen that the GM referred to as "hog mollies." 

Typically speaking, these would be really thick fellas who work on the interior of the defensive line (Star Lotulelei and Kawaan Short qualify) or grinding guards on the offensive line (Trai Turner, Andrew Norwell). Notice a pattern with those drafted players while Gettleman was in Carolina? 

But it's safe to say there are two guys who would qualify in this draft: Bradley Chubb and Quenton Nelson. 

Chubb's not some oversized bear -- he's just the best pass rusher in this draft by a substantial amount and, arguably, the best player in the draft. Put him in a rotation with Jason Pierre-Paul and Olivier Vernon and suddenly the Giants are recreating exactly what helped them win a pair of Super Bowls, by generating a ton of pass rush off the edge. Worth noting is Vernon's contract, which could feature an out after 2018 (the Giants could save $11.5 million in cap space) and which only has two years remaining. JPP has three years left on his latest extension, but could be a cap casualty after the 2019 season depending on how his play holds up. In other words, the presence of those two talented ends does not preclude the Giants from drafting another pass rusher if Chubb is the best player on Gettleman's board. 

Nelson could fit the above description the GM provided for running backs too: he doesn't care if the former Notre Dame star is a guard. Is he a football player? A: Oh yes, yes he is.

Nelson is also confident.

And strong. Did we mention strong?

Taking a guard at No. 2 isn't a "traditional" move, but if it's not clear, Gettleman isn't obsessed with traditional decision-making. He's going to take a football guy if he gets the chance and believes in the player. The top player available is coming off his board at No. 2, provided the Giants are still drafting there after the Browns make their first pick.

Trade Down

Surprisingly, Gettleman sounded lukewarm about the idea of moving down out of the No. 2 spot when discussing it at the combine. 

"Are we open for business? Any decision I make is going to be in the best interest of the New York Giants, plain and simple. If someone makes me an offer I can't refuse, would I move back? It depends upon who is there," Gettleman said. "Again, if there is a guy that is worthy enough of being the second pick of a draft and what we are basically saying if we answer that question to the affirmative, you are drafting what you think is going to be a Hall of Fame player. You can't get too cute about the whole thing."

It's not hard to look at this draft as having four quarterbacks (Allen, Darnold, Mayfield, Rosen) who will be top selections, along with a small group of prospects (Chubb, Barkley, Nelson, Minkah Fitzpatrick) who are elite at their position and have good odds at becoming Pro Bowl level players pretty quickly. That's not knocking the other players in the draft who will go high, it just feels a lot safer to be sitting at No. 2 or No. 4 this year than it does at No. 10, compared to most other seasons. 

Maybe the Broncos (No. 5) or Jets (No. 6) are interested in moving up to get a quarterback, but maybe Gettleman sees the Colts (No. 3) and Browns (No. 4) as teams likely to snare one or two of the players he's interested in drafting. 

Neither of those trading partners would offer a massive pile of future picks. This wouldn't be a Browns/Eagles or Rams/Titans type of deal we're talking about here. Barring some kind of huge bidding war -- it would mean a team like the Cardinals trying to move way up to get involved -- the Giants won't get multiple first-round picks in return for moving down a couple spots. 

It would hardly be surprising if Gettleman saw the players at the top of this draft and didn't feel some combination of second- and third-round picks were enough to warrant him moving down the draft board and risking his blue-chip guys coming off before he actually picks. 

Whatever the Giants do, though, there will be repercussions far down the draft board. If they get involved in the quarterback business, it's going to shrink the supply quickly, especially if Cleveland goes QB at the top too. The Colts No. 3 pick will skyrocket in value for teams interested in getting ahead of the Broncos and Jets (or the Browns if they go Barkley/Chubb first). 

If the Giants go Barkley, it will send shockwaves up and down the draft board, with a running back going second overall for the first time since Reggie Bush went to the Saints there back in 2006. (Bush, by the way, was the last top-five running back to win a Super Bowl with the team who drafted him.) It would be the third time a running back went in the first two picks since 1995. 

The same could be said for Nelson at No. 2; it would drastically shift a lot of boards. Chubb going to the Giants would put severe pressure on the Colts to make their move at No. 3, possibly taking Barkley there. 

And a trade, depending on who came up to the second pick, would send folks scrambling. 

The Browns may have two of the top five picks in this draft, but it's the Giants, and by extension Gettleman, who control how the board is going to shake out come late April.