The New York Giants made Evan Neal the first Alabama player picked in the 2022 NFL Draft when they selected the offensive lineman with the seventh choice on April 28.

In the 2023 NFL Draft, quarterback Bryce Young could be the first player picked from the Crimson Tide.

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Neal protected the quarterback’s blind side as Alabama’s left tackle in the 2021 season, when Young won the Heisman Trophy and both were consensus All-Americans. The offensive lineman expects the quarterback to enjoy continued success when Young enters the NFL.

“Bryce is going to be as good as he wants to be,” Neal said. “Bryce has all the tools and the talent to be whatever type of quarterback he wants to be in this league, so I’m excited to see him grow. I’m excited to see how he pans out. I’m excited for Bryce.”

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Neal’s rookie season ended on Saturday night, when the Philadelphia Eagles eliminated the Giants from the NFL playoffs in a 38-7 decision.

Neal missed four games during the regular season because of a knee injury, but he started New York’s other 15 games at right tackle, including two playoff contests.

Young is among the 13 underclassmen who are eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft because they completed their college degree requirements.

The QB closed his time with the Tide by throwing for 321 yards and five touchdowns on New Year’s Eve in a 45-20 victory over Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.

It’s doubtful Neal and Young will be teammates again in the NFL next season. Barring a trade, the Giants will make their first pick in the NFL Draft on April 27 at No. 26, and Young is expected to be long gone by then.

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New York might not be in the market for a high-demand QB in the draft either.

The Giants appeared to enter the 2022 season not buying Daniel Jones as their long-term answer under center, having declined their option for the 2023 season on his rookie contract last offseason.

Jones responded by helping New York reach the postseason for the first time in six seasons, and he threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 78 yards in the Giants’ 31-24 upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the NFC playoffs.

Jones is headed toward free agency if New York doesn’t re-sign him or use its franchise tag on him before March 15.

“We’d like Daniel to be here,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen said on Monday. “Again, he said it yesterday: There’s a business side to it. We feel like Daniel played well this season. He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. Again, there’s a business side to it. We haven’t went down that road yet. We still have to have our meetings with our staff late in the week, and we’ll devise an offseason plan. We haven’t had those meetings yet, but we would like to have Daniel Jones back. …

“Again, it takes two. Both sides have got to have those conversations. We haven’t crossed that bridge yet. There’s tools at our disposal. Again, we’ll go through several scenarios. It’s kind of like I mentioned it last year, maybe it was at the combine, with the ‘if, then’ scenarios. You got to go through all those because you don’t know how things are going to fall because it’s negotiating. This is why you love the draft: You turn in the card, and they’re yours. You know what the contract structure is; you know the years. This is where there’s two parties involved, and it’s going to be time-consuming. We’ll get together as a staff. We’ll talk through the different options and have those discussions when it’s appropriate.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.