Yet Another Mock Draft Has Giants Landing a Franchise Quarterback

With the New York Giants and 29 other NFL franchises having officially entered into their respective offseasons, the heat of the action has begun around the first stage of their process in the collegiate all-star events and evaluating the prospects who look to be donning their uniforms come April and beyond.

The Giants have had some of the longest time to lay out their potential plans for the first round of the 2025 draft. They expect to select one of the two top quarterbacks in the class, either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward, at No. 3 overall.

That conviction only continues to grow as New York further interacts with the two prospects and has even gone as far as to express an infinity for one of them ahead of a partnership.

It’s as if Joe Schoen and the front office, facing all the weight on their shoulders to find the next franchise arm, are leaving all their cards out on the table as to which name they’re coveting the most.

According to Pro Football Focus’s latest mock draft, run by Max Chadwick, Sanders will be selected with the third pick after Tennessee selects his teammate Travis Hunter and the Browns land Ward.

“Giants owner John Mara didn’t mince words in his postseason press conference, saying he’s ‘just about run out of patience’ following New York’s seventh losing campaign in the past eight years. He also mentioned that finding the team's quarterback of the future is the top priority for general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll as they head into a make-or-break year,” Chadwick said.

“Sanders almost seems like a player the Giants have to draft here, given the stakes. He was among college football’s best signal-callers over the past two seasons. His 49 big-time throws since 2023 tied for fifth, and his 1.6% turnover-worthy play rate in that span ranked second to only Bo Nix. Sanders also was recently seen playing catch with Giants star receiver Malik Nabers in the streets of New York.”

The impromptu game of catch between Nabers and Sanders has been overblown. But what might not be overblown is that during the leadup to the Shrine Bowl, the Giants were reportedly among a couple of teams that had asked Sanders not to participate in the practices, presumably to preserve his health for the rest of the offseason trials ahead.

After meeting with the prospective quarterback during the practices, Schoen and the Giants’ scouting contingent have also publicly expressed their admiration of Sanders’s character, noting he “checked all the boxes” of a football player with the smarts and passion to excel at the game’s premier level.

The connection to Sanders is getting closer by the minute in everything that both he and the Giants brass put out there, and he’s arguably the best candidate for what they need from a quarterback heading into 2025.

Compared to the competition, Sanders is one of the better pocket passers and can execute play-action schemes that the Giants have relied on amid inconsistent pass protection.

He doesn’t have the same arm strength of a player like Ward or even Jaxon Dart, who has started to be opined as a solid option for New York if they don’t go the quarterback route as early as No. 3. Still, he has a very good touch on the ball. He can place it accurately where it needs to go for the short and intermediate-range passing attacks that the Giants lacked enough of last season.

Sanders also has that grit and ability to lead an offense out of the bottom, as he did with the Buffaloes in two seasons after transferring there.

This past season was the best campaign of his career, posting an FBS-high 74% completion percentage for 4,134 yards, 37 touchdowns, which were second in the nation, and 10 interceptions that led Colorado from a one-win team in 2023 to a Big-12 co-champion status.

None of that will matter for the Giants if Sanders isn’t there in the third slot, though, as this mock predicts he will be. Short of trading up, the Giants will have to see how the Titans and Browns, two quarterbacks believed to be in the market for a new arm, approach their picks and whether they take Sanders and Ward off the board, respectively.

A lot of mocks have had the Titans going a different direction in the aftermath of their football operations executive, Chad Brinker, comments about not passing up a “generational talent,” a phrase many are speculating to imply wide receiver/corner Travis Hunter or the Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter.

As for the Browns, there is speculation that Sanders’ father and head coach at Colorado, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, could step in and obstruct the franchise from choosing his son as the second pick. Coach Prime has denied prior accusations about his purported influence, and the Browns have expressed that they won’t let concerns over that scenario impact their decision in three months.

It’s still early, and a lot can change before Roger Goodell takes the stage to announce the opening of round one. Still, the noise is only getting louder around this partnership with Sanders in a city hungry for a refreshing face in the Giants’ offensive huddle.

Even if they don’t land Sanders, the Giants will have other options to take and hopefully breed into the next stalwart who has been missing since Eli Manning retired at the end of the 2019 season. They’ll also need to add a veteran to compete with and mentor the rookie if they elect to have a bridge year before throwing him into the wolves.

As much as competing is the objective next season, the Giants must follow their gut and ensure they pick the right prospect for the job, as that will dictate what will come of the franchise's fate in the next few seasons.

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