The Giants have gone from three picks to one on Day 3, but can they strike gold again?
The 2025 NFL Draft is in full swing.
The first round of the draft lived up to expectations with Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart becoming the two newest members of the New York Giants. And while don’t know what kind of impact they’ll have, it’s entirely possible that the Giants changed the trajectory of their franchise on the first day of the draft.
We had heard for about a week leading up to the draft that the Giants preferred Dart over Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and that was proven true with the selection of Dart.The Giants traded the 34th and 99th overall picks to the Houston Texans to get back into the first round to secure Dart as their quarterback of the future.
Sanders fell out of the first round entirely, but he should hear his name called early in the second round.
At least as of this writing, the Giants only have one pick on the second day — 65th overall.
Who will be joining Dart and Carter in The Big Apple? We’ll take a quick look at the various outlets to see who could be available for the Giants with the first pick in the third round.
- The Athletic – Miles Frazier, OG, LSU
- CBS Sports – Kyle Williams, WR, Washington State
- Yahoo! Sports – C.J. West, DT, Indiana
- USA Today – Jack Bech, WR, TCU
- Sports Illustrated – Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
- Bleacher Report – Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
Shedeur Sanders will likely be linked to Jaxson Dart for the foreseeable future, and he was the Cleveland Browns’ pick at 33rd overall in The Athletic, Yahoo!, Bleacher Report, and USA Today’s mock drafts.
Sanders slipped a bit further in the CBS Sports mock, falling to the Las Vegas Raiders at 37th.
In a surprise, Shedeur fell out of Day 2 entirely in the Sports Illustrated mock draft. Jalen Milroe going 33rd overall to the Browns, Tyler Shough went 40th overall to the New Orleans Saints, and the Las Vegas Raiders took Quinn Ewers at 68th overall.
Chris’ Pick – Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
Plan B – Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss
Looking at the various mocks, offense rules the day. For the most part, mock drafters are split between adding an offensive lineman and adding a wide receiver.
I could see the Giants go in either direction, and I do anticipate it being an offensive pick. I’m leaning toward the offensive lineman here for a few reasons.
The first is that the Giants might not have a long-term solution for right tackle on the roster. Jermaine Eluemunor is a fine piece for 2025, but he’s an older lineman and the Giants need to get younger. Evan Neal definitely showed improvement when he got onto the field in the second half of the season, but he’ll likely be in the final year of his contract and can’t be counted upon.
Ersery is a big, powerful, yet athletic offensive tackle. He’s a bulldozer going downhill, yet is also a good-enough pass protector to give Abdul Carter fits. Carter had arguably his worst game of the year against Ersery in Minnesota and was held to just 3 combined tackles, with no sacks or tackles for loss.
While Ersery was a starting left tackle for the Golden Gophers, but should be able to transition to the right side without too much trouble.
I chose Tre Harris as my “Plan B” due to both his ability and familiarity with Dart.
Pairing a young quarterback with a college teammate has been a popular tactic for fostering growth, and it’s one the Giants could definitely employ. Harris is a big-bodied and highly competitive receiver who still led Ole Miss in receiving and eclipsing 1,000 yards despite missing about 4 (and a half) games to a groin injury. Not only could Harris help the Giants offense in 2025, he could grow with their quarterback of the future.
About the defense
Interestingly, only one mock has the Giants selecting a defensive tackle. The Giants will likely pursue a defensive tackle at some point, but value might not be there after five went in the first round.
However, the Giants have added Paulson Adebo, Jevon Holland, Chauncey Golston, and obviously Abdul Carter to their defense, but nothing to their offense beyond Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Jaxson Dart. In my view, the biggest problem with the Giants’ defense was that it was hauling around an albatross of an offense. Fixing the offense would take a tremendous amount of pressure off the defense.
That said, I could absolutely see the Giants picking a player like T.J. Sanders (iDL, South Carolina), Darius Alexander (iDL, Toledo), or Alfred Collins (iDL, Texas) with the 65th pick if they happen to fall that far.
Looking ahead to Saturday
I would also keep an eye out for interior linemen like Dylan Fairchild (OG, Georgia) or J.J. Pegues (iDL, Ole Miss) on Day 3. Both have the potential to grow into starters at positions of need.
