Well, it’s almost that time of year again! April is right around the corner, and that means the 2025 NFL Draft is almost upon us! As NFL teams make their way to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Roger Goodell practices maintaining his composure in front of the annual chorus of boos, I, alongside countless other New York Giants fans, am left wondering who Joe Schoen will select with the third pick in the first round.

The NFL Draft has always been infuriatingly inconsistent and unpredictable; since 1936, top draft prospects have failed, oftentimes spectacularly, to leave a lasting impression on their team—much less on the league as a whole. Meanwhile, some teams strike gold in the later rounds with players who change the sport forever. Unless Madame Leota is somehow your General Manager,  it’s hard to determine who is the best fit for your team at your draft position.

The New York Giants enter this year’s draft in a precarious, albeit entirely predictable state. Since Tom Coughlin’s retirement in 2016, John Mara has subjugated Giants fans to a saga of embarrassing misadventures against our will, writing the textbook for what not to do with a football team. There was a glimmer of hope in 2022 that we would finally be able to righten the ship, but then unsatisfied with our own self-inflicted deficiencies, we somehow let the Eagles steal Saquon Barkley away from us and tethered ourselves to Daniel Jones for far too long. Tim and Wellington are rolling in their graves…

Anyway, the past is neither here nor there, and I would like to look to the future with some optimism. With that said, who should the Giants draft with the third overall pick?

Some may say that it all depends on what the Titans and Browns decide to do with the first and second picks, respectively. I respectfully disagree. The Giants should draft Abdul Carter at Number Three, no matter what. I don’t believe that Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders will be falling to us—they’ll be playing for Tennessee and Cleveland next year, assuming neither one of those teams decides to trade down.

For where we are right now as a football team, some may argue we should trade down as well. I can appreciate that argument, but I think the team is best served if we select a high-caliber pass-rusher like Carter at three. The New York Giants have a history of strong defenses, and statically, I honestly think we have more to gain on a season-by-season basis with Carter on our team than a bevy of late-round picks—especially with Joe Schoen plugging a lot of holes in our secondary. I’d be happy and more than a little relieved as a fan with Carter being the pick, but that leaves the elephant in the room…quarterback.

As of the time of my writing this, we still have no clear evidence of who our QB may be next season. However, here’s what I would do:

I would sign Russell Wilson right now in free agency. He’s a veteran in the league and would provide stability to our offense. If he can develop a rapport with Malik Nabers, I think we may be in for a pleasant surprise come the opening kickoff for the 2025 season. Granted, our offensive line still needs work, but I trust the free-agency signings we’ve made over the last week or so.

Next, I would draft Jaxson Dart. I don’t care how, we just need to do it. If we can manage to draft Dart, he’ll have Wilson to learn from this upcoming year—similar to Eil learning under Warner. I think that this strategy would give us the highest probability of success both in the short term and later down the road.

Is this plan risky? Of course! But any draft-day decision would be. I can’t speak for all Giants fans, but I’d like to move away from the frustrations of the last nine years, and from where I’m sitting,  this may be the best way to go about it. Let Brain Daboll and Joe Schoen build the team they want to pursue! It can’t be any worse than a QB sneak out of our own endzone on 3^rd and 9 down only three points.

Photo by Dave Adamson on Unsplash