New Mock Draft Dashes Giants' Hopes for a First-round Quarterback

The New York Giants’ objective for the offseason is simple: secure the quarterback position for the 2025 campaign and beyond.

For the latter half of that goal, the franchise is hopeful they’ll be in play for one of the top two quarterback prospects in their year’s class, albeit a weaker one compared to that in 2024.

All it could take is one of the two teams ahead of them, picking a different position or executing a trade to shoot up a spot and ensure their coveted arm is theirs to choose from.

However, there is a chance that the worst potential scenario could happen on the opening night of the draft. If so, what would the Giants do should they find themselves in a predicament where both Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward are off the board by the No. 3 pick?

That is exactly the shift that played out in a new seven-round mock draft from AtoZSports’s Ian Valentino in which the top two selectors–the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns–snagged Sanders and Ward from the pool of prospects before the Giants even had a say in the matter.

Accordingly, the Giants were projected to shift their decision towards taking Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter with their overall selection, nabbing arguably the best all-around player in college football this past season.

"New York will likely expect this scenario, so their choices are chasing Sam Darnold in free agency, over-drafting someone at No. 3, or staying patient and getting their guy in the second round. Taking Jaxson Dart here would be insane, so instead, I'll take the best overall football player in the class and be happy with a foundational defensive piece,” Valentino wrote.

This scenario has felt unlikely over the past couple of weeks amid swirling rumors surrounding the three teams. The Titans, who seemingly would be in the market for a new quarterback, own the first spot for now but have expressed an open mindset on drafting a “generational talent” or potentially trading the pick to round up extra draft capital.

Their definition of a generational talent could not be one of the aforementioned gunslingers, which would, in turn, prevent this mock from becoming reality for New York. If the Titans were to side with Hunter or an edge talent like Abdul Carter, that would leave the Browns to likely take one of their two arms and leave one in the hands of Joe Schoen to get his guy.

No matter what happens, the Giants' biggest key when navigating their search for a quarterback is making sure they do it the right way. In a class that isn’t as defined by certain players as in 2024, there are names to be had in the second tier of prospects, but they should err on the side of not taking another risk like Daniel Jones too early.

Drafting Hunter at the No. 3 slot might not fill the biggest gap at the helm of the offense, but it wouldn’t be the worst potential partnership for the Giants, either. They also need reinforcements in the secondary, and very few players in the nation are better than what the two-way stud brought to Colorado this past season.

In just a snap under 400 coverage reps, Hunter ranked atop the Colorado secondary with a 91.1 PFF grade. He produced 35 total tackles while creating five total turnovers, including four interceptions and 11 pass deflections, and he allowed a 56.8% opponent reception success rate that was among the best in FBS football.

Hunter would provide the Giants defense nearly all the elements of a difference-making ballhawk that they lacked in their corps this past fall, especially the turnover realm where the team struggled to get past the sole interception they forced in the season opener against Minnesota until they got a second one against New Orleans thirteen weeks later.

While strengthening the second prudent need on their roster, the Giants could turn their focus towards deciphering which one of the other quarterbacks can best be molded in their system and are worthy of a potential second-round selection, such as Jaxson Dart, who is gaining traction after a good performance at the Senior Bowl and will garner more at the NFL Combine.

As unpopular as it would be across the fanbase, the Giants could even trade down, acquire more picks, and fill the quarterback gap similarly. They’d have more capital to put winning pieces around the rookie and their holes and can partner him with a veteran to mentor in the first year as a developmental player.

That’s not to say it will all pan out that way, but as Valentino said, the Giants must be prepared for it. The smoke and mirrors always come with pre-draft noise, and it’s been catapulted by a slew of teams, each seeking the same core of prospects projected to go in that pick range.

The Giants cannot afford to get caught up in it and make risky decisions that will set the franchise, which has already been in a long enough rebuild, back further. They must be confident in a certain prospect and run with him if he’s there at their turn and it’s the right value for the selection.

The feeling in the room is that their guy is one of Sanders or Ward, with the former leaning slightly higher than the other. The ideal outcome would be for one of them to fall to No. 3 so the Giants don’t have to take drastic measures, but having a good backup plan in place like Hunter isn’t as terrible as this mock draft might suggest.

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