Michael Conroy/Associated Press

If the New York Giants are selecting the quarterback of their future in 2019, it apparently won't be with the No. 6 pick.

"Dave Gettleman is crazed about getting a pass-rusher with this sixth pick, and they'll deal with the quarterback later," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said on Monday's Get Up!, reporting what a general manager told him.

The Giants have the Nos. 6 and 17 selections in Thursday's first round in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2019 draft class is loaded with elite pass-rushers, and Gettleman could find a foundational defensive piece with the sixth selection before targeting a guy like Duke's Daniel Jones at No. 17.

Gettleman has consistently heaped praise on incumbent Eli Manning, saying the team still believes in the maligned 38-year-old. Manning threw for 4,299 yards and 21 touchdowns against 11 interceptions in 2018.

"I really believe there has been a false narrative out there that Eli is finished, he's done," he said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football in March (h/t SNY's Ralph Vacchiano). "He had a heck of a year. ... Eli is still a quality NFL quarterback. It wears me out; it really does."

Gettleman also expanded on what he's looking for in a quarterback last week, telling reporters the Giants need someone who can handle the New York spotlight:

"Being the quarterback of a team in this kind of market is a load. It's a mental load. You have to really vet up the background of these guys.

"It's their makeup. You've got to have a mental toughness about you to play that position here in New York. Really, to play that position anywhere. That's a big piece of it. It's important. If you folks don't think it is, you have to rethink it.

"There's a lot of guys who have never had adversity, and you will [have] adversity up here. I don't care who you are. I don' t care how great a player you are ... Everybody has adversity. You have to dig so deep to see if they've had adversity. It's part of the evaluation."

That quote could be read in a number of ways. It could mean that Gettleman would prefer a quarterback like Dwayne Haskins, who spent a year starring in the bright spotlight at Ohio State. Or you could read it to push the narrative he likes Jones, who faced "adversity" in being surrounded by less than stellar supporting talent at Duke.

Gettleman's questionable-at-best decision to trade Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns means he has to nail these picks to engender faith in New York. If he doesn't think there's a quarterback in this class who is the answer, then he would be right to kick the can down the road and hopefully land his guy in 2020.