The Giants gave up a lot of draft capital on Thursday night to get the quarterback they wanted—a developmental quarterback. Say what!?
Giants’ general manager Joe Schoen showed savvy by trading the No. 34 pick, the No. 99 pick, and a 2026 third-round selection to the Houston Texans for the No. 25 pick on Thursday night. It was the right move, given the Giants’ plan to draft a quarterback after drafting Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter as the team’s No. 3 overall draft pick.
Then, Schoen foolishly wasted that goodwill by drafting a project quarterback in Ole’ Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart instead of Shedeur Sanders, who remarkably was not even drafted in the first round. Most NFL teams could have used Sanders’ skill set and leadership, but it was more than that for the Giants. It was a colossal mistake.
They were better off drafting a quarterback with the potential to be good. Sanders certainly has Jayden Daniels’ game, who is a dual-threat quarterback. In today’s NFL, a quarterback is an asset when he can run and throw. Dart has no upside. He is Daniel Jones lite. Interestingly, not many teams were interested in him, yet the Giants were. If he were to be drafted, it would be in later rounds.
Shedeur Sanders (photo courtesy CBS Sports)
This is a wasted pick, another example of the Giants displaying that they are trying to outsmart everybody else. One would think they would learn after mistakes such as drafting Jones, Saquon Barkley, and Odell Beckham Jr. In this case, Schoen and Giants head coach Brian Daboll invested in Dart to show they can outfox other teams.
Had they drafted Sanders, those two would have had time on the job. They probably will have time on the job with Dart since Giants owner John Mara has no interest in firing both men, but it was wrong after last season not to fire Schoen and Daboll. So, now we have this foolish move.
If they had genuinely not believed in Sanders, they would have been better off waiting until next year, when there will be a better quarterback class with Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, and LSU quarterback Grant Nussmeier.
Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston are not taking the Giants anywhere as quarterbacks, and you can forget about Tommy DeVito ever playing again.
Jaxson Dart (photo courtesy Giants Wire – USA Today)
If I were a betting man, Dart will likely play under center this season because fans would want him to. This franchise played Eli Manning and Jones in their first year despite plans to redshirt them. Besides, you’ll hear Giants apologists say that if Sanders was so good, why wasn’t he drafted in the first round?
Here’s my theory about why the Colorado quarterback was not drafted: It could just be that the Giants had no interest in dealing with Deion Sanders, the father and Colorado head coach of the younger Sanders.
It was inexcusable for the Giants. If they were not really interested in Sanders, they would have been better off not trading for the No. 25 pick and just keeping their draft capital.
For all of the Giants’ apologists who say Daboll knows how to develop a quarterback, who exactly did he develop? Please don’t mention Josh Allen, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jalen Hurts. They were good enough not to need the Giants’ head coach’s help. I can argue that those guys made Daboll more than he made them.
Maybe Daboll gets it right with Dart, but he couldn’t get Jones or Devito right, so why should he benefit from the doubt?
Also, when did Schoen get a draft pick? The following draft pick he gets right will be his first. Kayvon Thibodeaux has not elevated the Giants on defense, and Evan Neal was a bust. Malik Nabers did not do much to win games, nor did Dru Phillips.
Looking at his draft picks, the Giants’ general manager made a case to be fired. This franchise has not been transformed under his watch, and they haven’t done a great job with player development.
It’s laughable that Mara entrusts Daboll and Schoen to steward a franchise that can’t get out of its way. This probably explains the ineptness of the son of the late Wellington Mara.
Make no mistake. Schoen’s legacy depends on how Dart develops. The same can be said for Daboll. There won’t be a grace period, either. The fans will want results or, at the very least, tangible progress from the Giants’ new toy right away.
They gave up all that trade capital on Thursday night to draft a developmental quarterback. It’s yet another example of the Giants’ stupidity.
