Assessing the Giants draft class after the dust has settled

Did the Giants have a second home run draft in two years?

As the dust from the 2025 NFL Draft settles, we can get some perspective on the New York Giants draft class.

The full story of the class won’t be written for a while yet, and three years is standard when it comes to evaluating a class. The very earliest impression is that this could be a very strong class, and the Giants seemingly got value at almost every pick.

GM Joe Schoen’s work has been almost universally praised around the NFL media ecosystem. In aggregate, the only team to have a more highly-regarded class is the New England Patriots.

I won’t be giving out a formal grade for the Giants’ draft — again, I believe in giving prospects three years. Development isn’t linear and nobody comes out of college as a finished product. We need to see the players on the field, in the Giants’ schemes, and how they fit with their new teammates.

We’ll have to wait and see how the Giants’ 2025 draft class fares on the field. It’ll be fascinating to see how they integrate Abdul Carter and Darius Alexander into the defense, as well as how the offensive players develop.

We might not see the full return on investment right away, but the potential is certainly exciting.

But for now we can take a look at the class and assess the value and fit, and maybe start to get an idea of how it will all come together.

Offense

1.25 – Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
4.105 – Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State
5.155 – Marcus Mbow, OL, Purdue
7.219 – Thomas Fidone II, TE, Nebraska

I’m not going to say that the entire class hinges on Jaxson Dart and whether he becomes a franchise quarterback. The fact that Daniel Jones didn’t pan out doesn’t make Dexter Lawrence any less of a player.

But we also know that how Dart develops will color how this class is perceived by fans and the media alike. There’s a lingering sentiment that drafting Dart was a desperation move, but those criticisms seem as though they were written before the draft then left in to drive clicks. But more on that later.

Dart has pretty much all of the traits that the Giants want in order to operate their offense the way it’s envisioned. I expect we’ll get plenty of frustrating reports out of camp as he works on mechanics and technique, but also highlight reel throws when he’s turned loose to just play.

Ideally, we won’t be seeing Dart in any more than in a mop-up role until 2026. One of the problems with quarterback development in the NFL is that if they’re drafted highly, they’re forced onto the field right away. Very few quarterbacks are truly “pro ready”, yet they’re often forced to work through their issues on the playing field, which forces a return to old — or bad — habits.

Realistically, we’ll likely see the most of Cam Skattebo. Skattebo was a fantastic value at 105th overall, yet some expected him to go as early as the second round. Ultimately, the running backs came off the board later than expected, and the draft run on them did not officially start until the Giants picked Skattebo. He’ll have the opportunity to work in a rotation with Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary right away, and he brings a physicality and skill set that the other runners lack.

Offensive lineman Marcus Mbow also went far later than expected, and the best explanation we can piece together is that he dropped out of Day 2 “because reasons.” Every so often the NFL collectively talks itself out of someone who played well but doesn’t have a clear projection. That’s often how good teams get great players: They get slandered as a “tweener” (or some such), until a team like the Baltimore Ravens takes them and everyone else realizes they missed the forest for the trees.

Defense

1.3 – Abdul Carter, edge, Penn State
3.65 – Darius Alexander, iDL, Toledo
7.246 – Korie Black, CB, Oklahoma State

We don’t need to belabor the point at the top of the draft.

Taking Carter was the correct decision. Really, barring an absolute haul — such as the Browns got for Travis Hunter — the Giants were correct to not trade down.

They were also correct to pick up Kayvon Thibodeaux’s fifth-year option.

I’ve mentioned this before, but the Giants didn’t just have a good pass rush in 2024. All things considered, they had one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.

The Giants finished tied for eighth in sacks and fifth in sack rate, despite missing Lawrence and Thibodeaux for chunks of the season and Brian Burns playing injured. The Giants’ defense also saw the third-fewest pass attempts, and had to lug around an offense that averaged 14.25 points per game outside of their outburst against the Colts. Their pass rush production under those circumstances is, honestly, impressive.

That’s the defense to which the Giants added one of the most explosive pass rushers to come out of college in recent years. Carter is still in the process of learning his trade, with just one year of experience as an edge defender. However, he still had 24 tackles for a loss, 12.0 sacks, and an insane 43 hurries.

How the Giants work Burns, Thibodeaux, and Carter onto the field will be one of the biggest stories of the offseason. But it’ll also be one of the most enjoyable aspects of the offseason from a purely football perspective.

Carter needs to continue to hone his craft and get stronger, but it’s entirely possible that he emerges as a steal at No. 3 overall.

Then we have Alexander. The Toledo tackle was on people’s radar throughout the year, but didn’t really burst onto the scene until the Senior Bowl. There, he showed off his athleticism and disruptiveness and put the NFL on notice that he belongs with the big-school prospects.

Alexander isn’t the block-eater that many fans wanted, however he’s a good fit in the penetrating defense that Shane Bowen wants to call. The improvement in run defense will come from blowing up plays behind the line of scrimmage while the back seven defenders come up to fill gaps in their run fits.

Much like Mbow and Skattebo, Alexander was a tremendous value where the Giants got him. I personally had a high second-round grade on him based on his tape, and wouldn’t have been surprised to see him sneak into the bottom of the first round after his Senior Bowl and Combine performances.

Credit to Schoen and the Giants’ scouting department for accurately setting up their board and reading the rest of the NFL.