After months of speculation, the New York Giants finally have their next quarterback, albeit with an unlikely twist. Initially favored to spend their third overall pick on signal caller, the Giants instead opted to take the best player available in Abdul Carter, before ultimately trading back into the first round to acquire Jaxson Dart at the 25 spot.
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While the series of transactions likely made for a chaotic night one in the Giant’s war room, some analysts believe that the franchise made the right decisions. Among those who find themselves in approval of the G-Men’s draft strategy is the former Pittsburgh Steeler, Ryan Clark.
In reacting to the results of the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on the latest episode of ESPN’s First Take, Clark suggested that everyone should be impressed by New York’s strategy, regardless of how they feel about Dart as a prospect.
“Their process was the correct process. Their decision making, their maneuvering, was extremely competent… To move up a pick before Atlanta moved up and not give up a first-rounder… I thought that was masterful negotiating by Joe Schoen. For all of the mistakes they have made until this point, I thought, last night, the Giants won.”
For all of the praise that Clark was willing to give the GM for seemingly turning over a new leaf, Stephen A. Smith wasn’t quite ready to forgive him and the rest of the team’s front office members for mishandling the Saquon Barkley situation. Considering that their decision to release Barkley will likely go down as one of the biggest blunders in NFL history, it should come as no surprise to see that members of the media aren’t willing to let New York live it down just yet.
“He should still be ashamed of himself for the Saquon Barkley debacle… I ain’t giving him no love. To hell with him… He did a good job, but I’ll be damned if I give him credit for it.”
While the take may seem a bit harsh, Giants fans likely hold a similar sentiment heading towards the upcoming regular season. Nevertheless, Clark jokingly suggested that the outburst was an indicator of Smith’s underlying anger issues.
“You need therapy, bro.” Given the fallout of the Barkley situation, it’s likely that there’s several New Yorkers who could make use of a therapy session, not just Smith.
According to one of ESPN’s longstanding reports, Mina Kimes, the Giants’ decision to draft Dart over the likes of Shedeur Sanders makes sense “process wise.” Highlighting the fact that New York has a pair of veteran QBs in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, Kimes believes that New York is the perfect place to develop a young signal caller right now.
“I had Sanders above Dart… But I can see why they were enticed by his tools and his athleticism with the promise of developing him. They also didn’t give up a ton to go up and get him… I’m not saying this was a home run pick… But when you look at their draft as a whole, what they gave up, their time line, all of those, to me, check the boxes.”
While Sanders’ perpetual slide will likely be a major talking point for the next several months, the Giants’ favoring of Dart suggests that they have no immediate plans to win games next season. Suffice to say, it’ll be business as usual in the Big Apple, much to the dismay of the Giants faithful.
