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New York Giants Pass on Shedeur Sanders, Select Jaxson Dart With No. 25 Pick in Draft

Ryan Phillips

Shedeur Sanders on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors.
Shedeur Sanders on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Shedeur Sanders is still waiting for his name to be called during the 2025 NFL draft.

The New York Giants traded back into the first round, moving up from the 34th pick to the 25th pick and selected a quarterback. It wasn't Sanders. Instead, they picked Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart.

Sanders was widely believed to be the second-best quarterback in this year's draft, but in a weaker class, a drop was always possible. The Tennessee Titans selected Miami's Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick and no other quarterbacks were taken until Dart was picked.

As Deion Sanders's son, Shedeur has faced intense scrutiny since he began playing college football. He won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 2024 after completing 74.0% of his passes for 4,134 yards, with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added four more rushing scores.

Many believed Sanders would wind up with the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21, but they opted to select Oregon defensive lineman Derrick Harmon. The Giants, another quarterback-needy team, were connected to Sanders but opted to take Dart instead.

Fans online couldn't believe how this has played out.

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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.

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