The start of the 2025 NFL Draft is less than 24 hours away, and we’re very close to having a much clearer picture of what the New York Giants will look like this year.
The closing hours of the Draft Process have seen a flurry of final mock drafts released from the biggest outlets. These mocks tend to balance the evaluators’ film study with what they’re gleaning from their connections around the NFL.
Daniel Jeremiah released his Mock Draft 4.0 on Wednesday evening, and it’s following what has quickly become a very familiar pattern.
(Note: NFL.com has seemingly had issues linking this back to Jeremiah’s Mock Draft 3.0. That seems to be fixed as of this writing.)
3. New York Giants – Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
There’s been chatter about the Giants potentially trading out of this pick, but if they stay put, I think they address the defensive line. Carter could take their front from good to great.
This is the expected move at this point and we’re pretty much at the point where the Giants doing anything other than taking Abdul Carter would be a stunner. By now, it seems as though just about the only way it doesn’t happen is if the Browns take Carter at second overall.
Jeremiah mentions that there’s still chatter that the Giants could trade down. There are few players in this draft that are truly “trade bait”, and Carter is one of them. So that does keep the possibility open, however the Giants would likely need a really good haul to move out of this pick.
Personally, I don’t foresee a problem getting Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Abdul Carter to coexist. Carter’s significant experience at off-ball linebacker should allow him to roam the second level while Burns and Thibodeaux play on the line of scrimmage — and give Shane Bowen plenty of options for how he’ll torment opposing quarterbacks.
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Abdul Carter already sounding like a New York Giant
Projected trade!
18. New York Giants – Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
The Giants and Browns are both candidates to trade back into the first round, with the goal of moving ahead of the QB-needy Steelers. I’ve heard talk about the Seahawks looking to trade out of Round 1, so this pairing makes sense. New York would get its QB and Seattle GM John Schneider would be armed with a boatload of Day 2 picks after this trade. There’s a belief in league circles that the Giants view Dart as a better fit than Shedeur Sanders.
Credit to our own Ed Valentine getting this scenario from Jeremiah a full week ago.
And if you’re keeping score at home, this is the fourth major mock draft to come out in the last 24, or so, hours detailing a variation on this theme.
In addition to Jeremiah, Todd McShay, Peter Schrager, and Mike Mayock (on the Rich Eisen Show) each have the Giants trading up into the second half of the first round for Jaxson Dart after selecting Abdul Carter.
As Jeremiah details, Dart makes a lot of sense as a developmental quarterback for the Giants from a traits perspective. He has plus athleticism and arm strength, has good size and is a physical runner, and is an accurate deep ball thrower. He also led FBS in yardage off of deep throws and was fifth in Big Time Throw rate.
The fact that Schoen and Daboll have brought in Tyrod Taylor, Davis Webb, Drew Lock, Russell Wilson, and Jameis Winston suggests that they want to have an athletic and strong-armed quarterback.
We also all saw the second-half comeback against the Arizona Cardinals in 2023 and the offensive outburst against the Indianapolis Colts this year. The Giants’ offense is designed to have a vertical element, and it’s struggled to operate well and consistently when it’s missing.
Whether or not he truly is the quarterback Brian Daboll covets remains to be seen, however his skill set and traits do make a lot of sense.
