‘Things I think’ about the New York Giants’ 2025 NFL Draft

The Giants had a great weekend, adding toughness and talent

Attitude. Edge. Dawg mentality.

Malik Nabers brought a lot of that to the New York Giants after being the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft a season ago.

They seem to have doubled down on the idea of being a tougher, edgier, more physical football team this offseason. The 2025 NFL Draft class exemplified that.

Edge defender Abdul Carter, the best pass rusher in the class, was the pick at No. 3.

“We were talking on the way down [to the press conference] just in terms of adding dawgs and a certain type of mentality, and I would say two years in a row with Malik’s competitiveness and the toughness that he plays with, and then you add another guy like that in the first round like Abdul Carter and the motor he plays with and the toughness and the violence, that can really help,” GM Joe Schoen said Thursday night.

“And the identity question was mentioned. That can help develop an identity.”

One of the admirable traits Nabers brings to the table is a willingness to play through injury, and to excel while doing it.

Carter suffered a shoulder injury that knocked him out of a College Football Playoff game against Boise State, yet played less than two weeks later vs. Notre Dame despite risk of further injury and hurting his stock in the draft.

“I knew if my teammates (were) in the same position I was in, they’d go out there and lay it all on the line for me. I knew that I wanted to do everything in my power to make sure I put my team in the best position to win, knowing what was on the line. If I had to make the choices again, I’d do it again, just be out there with my brothers.”

Quarterbacks are not generally considered to be physical tone-setters. Watch highlights of Jaxson Dart running the ball. He wants to run through people:

“We’re going to probably have to teach him how to slide,” said GM Joe Schoen.

Dart showed a bit of his mentality Thursday night when asked if his personality fit the big city.

“No doubt,” he practically shouted into the phone. “I just feel like I got an edge to me. I feel like everybody in the city does, as well. So let’s get to it.”

The Giants added more physicality with the third-round selection of defensive tackle Darius Alexander.

“It was important. Not just stopping the run but getting after the passer,” Schoen said. “We talked about identity a little bit last night with Carter. Again, I like what we’ve done on defense.”

In the fourth round, the Giants added a human battering ram at running back in 5-foot-9, 219-pound Cam Skattebo. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein calls him a “carnage creator.” I can’t help but think of Brandon Jacobs, though Skattebo is 45 pounds lighter.

Skattebo said Saturday his game has been about running over and through people since he started playing at the age of 6.

“You can go back, watch some film from back in the day. It’s always been a very physical game for me,” Skattebo said. “Since the age of six years old, I’ve been doing the same thing. Throughout my life I’ve stuck with the path that I’ve put myself on, and it’s working out. I’m going to continue to do that because that’s what is bringing me success.

“Physicality is definitely contagious. If someone gets ran over, it hypes the other guys up and it gets them going. I’m going to continue to bring that and hopefully it feeds off on to my teammates.”

Offensive lineman Marcus Mbow was the fifth-round pick, yet another selection that added depth and physicality in the trenches. in his Mbow prospect profile, Chris Pflum wrote that Mbow has “excellent competitive toughness” and “a pretty big nasty streak.”

That fits right in with the picks that came before him.

Daboll admitted toughness was a characteristic the Giants looked for throughout the offseason.

“I think you always add that element to your team in both areas. Mentally, the challenges that go with playing professional football and playing in New York, quite frankly, and toughness on the field. I think we did that in free agency and we did that in the draft,” he said. “It’s something that we covet. I thought we did a good job of acquiring players that demonstrate both of those things.”

I have no idea how good these Giants will be, but I don’t think anyone will call the 2025 version the “Gentle Giants.”

Props to Joe Schoen

I saluted GM Joe Schoen for a “home run” first round of the draft. Now that the full draft is in the books, let’s give the GM more flowers.

The GM hit every mark. He checked every box. He read the room right throughout the seven rounds.

Schoen did the right thing in Round 1, adding the best pass rusher and defensive player in the draft. He got the potential franchise quarterback he and Brian Daboll have sought ever since they arrived in 2022 without giving up too much.

We called for adding to the trenches on both sides, and to the running back room. Check and check.

He added tough, physical players.

Schoen also read the room right in Round 4, passing on offensive linemen at No. 105 and grabbing Cam Skattebo before the running backs started flying off the board. Most of those offensive linemen were still there at 154, and he nabbed a potential five-position player Dane Brugler of The Athletic gave a Round 3 grade in his draft guide.

“I think Joe did a great job of along with the scouts of bringing in guys that have a lot of toughness,” Daboll said. “Even to get Mbow, credit Joe there. Again, we’re sitting there talking about him or Skattebo with that first pick, and he’s like, we’ll go with Skattebo, and then Mbow was there however many picks later, so we got two guys that we were going to take — if Skattebo left, we were going to take Mbow.”

Commenters at Big Blue View were LOVING Schoen’s draft. Check out this comment after the pick of Mbow:

Now, obviously, none of these players has set foot on an NFL practice field. There are likely to be a couple of misses. On paper in our immediate gratification world, though, I think Schoen comes out of this draft having done everything anyone could have asked.

Put this draft on top of last year’s highly successful one, and a 2025 free agency that clearly upgraded the defense and the quarterback position, and it’s no wonder Tony DelGenio dropped this comment into the Big Blue View Slack room Saturday afternoon:

“This is just about a perfect draft for Schoen.”

Chris chimed in with this:

“If Dart hits, this is a franchise-changing off season.”

They are not going to get an argument from me.

Schoen has been much-maligned for some of the major decisions made earlier in his tenure. We have to wait and see what happens on the field, of course, but as we sit here right now it is pretty difficult to complain about what he has done over the past two offseasons.

Schoen was not gloating Saturday night.

“It doesn’t matter what I think until we go out and do it. Do I like the guys? Yeah, heck yeah. I like the makeup. I think they’re wired the right way, the right DNA. I think we have the right people in this building,” Schoen said.

“I like some of the pieces that we have, but it’s up to them to go out and do it, and I have confidence in them that we will.”

Just a few more ‘things’

• As Round 7 wound down, Chris dropped a great line into the BBV Slack room:

“I’m old enough to remember when Carson Beck, Quinn Ewers, and Shedeur were the projected Top 3 QBs in the class. Shedeur went in the 5th, Ewers in the 7th, and Beck went back to school.”

That reminded me of something. I know that as soon as the dust clears from this draft, some of you will start focusing on next year’s draft and getting attached to certain players. You are making a mistake, and torturing yourself, if you become convinced months and months in advance, before the upcoming college football season even, that ‘Player X’ is a must-have.

Don’t do that to yourself.

• The Giants have a “tell” when it comes to the players they draft. Players they have in for ‘30 visits’, or private workouts, and ones they get good impressions of at the Senior Bowl or East-West Shrine Bowl keep ending up hearing their names called in the draft by the Giants.

Carter had a ‘30 visit’ and breakfast with Daboll. Dart had a private workout. Alexander, Skattebo, Mbow, tight end Thomas Fidone and corrnerback Korie Black all had ‘30 visits.’ Fidone said he also had a private workout with Giants tight ends coach Tim Kelly.

“That Senior Bowl is important for us,” Daboll said. “Some of the coaches go down, I go down every year with Joe. It’s something that kind of gets the process going.

“We met with some quarterbacks down there. We met with a variety of people, and you’re able to get some guys ahead of say the combine and see them do some different things … it’s a very helpful part of the process.”

So, next time the draft rolls around pay attention to the All-Star games, especially if the Giants have coaches involved, and to the list of visits. That is where the draft picks are likely to come from.