I will not bury the lead. The Giants crushed this Draft. Crushed. The fun stuff begins in paragraph 4.
How can I be so certain the Giants did so well? Everyone wins in April, right? No one knows, right? Of course, yes, no one truly knows anything, so we must show enough humility and respect for the other 31 teams to defer to time.
Before I go any further, I must qualify the NY Giants’ 2025 Draft by noting that we certainly do not know what the future holds for QB Jaxson Dart. He is probably the biggest piece of this draft, owing simply to his position. Dart’s outcome will dictate a great deal for the franchise. Yet the Giants took their swing at the plate. “The Giants showed a very sound process in what they accomplished,” said Wonder, UltimateNYG’s Draft analyst. “They resisted using their 1.03 pick for anything but Ward, Carter or Hunter. And they moved back into Round 1 without overpaying in any significant way.” In the grand scheme of things, it cost them a 2.34, 3.99 (almost R4) and a R3 pick. That is not egregious capital for a big time QB investment. Dart has the risk. Dart has the reward. At this juncture, all we can do is trust that Daboll did the appropriate due diligence on this player and he asked the questions to get to an informed decision. If we are to trust Daboll about anything, it is QB. Only time will tell. I can bring up all the reasons why Dart will succeed, but frankly it is disingenuous to do so. It would only cast doubt on what I will be discussing with the rest of the draft, where there is far more clarity. I do not know if he will succeed. There is some development necessary. Wonder did offer some additional color on Dart. “I do not know if Dart will become NY’s franchise QB. This is why you patiently development him this year. I do know that Dart’s arm can be an asset in playing in the Northeast in December and January. This is in direct contrast to Sanders, who is much better suited for a domed/warm weather climate.”
Finally at Paragraph 4, and the number 4 is appropriate for the 4 players the Giants picked besides their QB. EDGE/OLB Abdul Carter. DT Darius Alexander. RB Cam Skattebo. OL Marcus Mbow. Let’s go in order. Carter is the freak athlete. The Giants resisted QB at this juncture because you cannot pass on the best player available at 1.03. He is a playmaker. He can take over a game. When we talk about RUSH THE QB, the Giants will have something special. Together with Burns and Lawrence, that is a crazy pass rush. Let’s not forget Thibodeaux either, who Schoen extended with the 5th year option. How Shane Bowen uses all of these pieces is going to give Offenses fits. Carter can spy. He can rush on a delay. He can bend on the EDGE. Lawrence takes a double team routinely. How do you defend against all of that, and Brian Burns as well???!!! While Wonder loved Hunter, it was not meant to disparage Carter. “Hunter is just a freak, so the comp is not fair. Carter was still a cliff event versus everybody else taken at 1.04+”
When Carter was selected by the Giants on Day 1, we said:
“As long as the Giants can get a good DT at 3.65, I will feel good about the run Defense and feel really good about the Defense overall…. The Giants need to beef up the OL and DL at 3.65 and 4.105. You would be surprised to know that there will be a lot of options on the DL at 3.65. Shemar Turner, TJ Sanders, Darius Alexander..”
Enter the pick at 3.65, and who do the Giants take? DT Darius Alexander. Obviously I am loving this move. Alexander is a run defender who projects eventually to a 3-down lineman, which is saying a lot. We blogged the pick last night. It was simply an outstanding selection. One of Big Blue Banter’s (“BBB“) “My Guys.” Wonder’s 8th ranked DT in a deep DT class. Wonder explained the value of Alexander in simple terms. “If all Alexander is is a 2-down lineman who has to be used in a rotation, that is still fine for where he was taken. The fact that he has the potential to be a 3-down DT is excellent. Schoen did very well with this pick.” If the draft stopped right here it would have been a very good draft. But this is where it went into overdrive.
I have been listening to Dan and Nick at BBB for a few years now and the quality of their work is outstanding. So when Dan is pounding the table over and over about Cam Skattebo for a month during the pre-draft, anyone listening is going to pay attention. The raves, the cut ups, the superlatives were almost too gaudy.
Before Day 3 began this morning, we noted:
Dan is still pounding the table for RB Cam Skattebo. He is certain that Skattebo will be gone by Round 5. But he then concedes that with so many RBs (even beyond their “My Guys”, players like Kyle Monangai etc), it probably means OL first in R4. That is my strong bias as well. Get a Guard.
There were two teams picking before the Giants at 4.105, and I was praying that no one would take G Marcus Mbow. And then the pick. RB Cam Skattebo. Incredible! INCREDIBLE! OK, we passed on the Offensive Lineman, but the Giants had to secure the psycho Running Back from Arizona State. Amazing. I could only imagine the cartwheels that Schneier and Falato were doing. The Giants did not get one of their “My Guys.” THEY GOT THEIR GUY!
Before we get to the good stuff, let’s remind you why this player falls to 4.105. He ran a 4.65 40 yd dash. And he fumbled 8x and lost 3 fumbles.
Skattebo superlatives warning. Be prepared. In his final season, he carried the ball 293 times for 1711 yards, 5.8 yds/carry, 131 ypg, 45 catches for 605 yds, for 2300 yards from scrimmage. Oh wait, he threw 1 pass for 42 yards, played special teams, and I am checking with the Union to see if he cleaned up the stadium after the game too. None of these stats frankly do the player justice. You simply have to watch his cut ups. He makes defenders miss, he breaks tackles regularly, and I mean regularly. Wonder likes his pass blocking, and he can play on 3rd down because he is also a very good pass catcher. He will be your short yardage back. Plus he has an infectious energy that Dan warned is going to electrify the Giants fan base.
This fan base certainly could use a jump start. Skattebo is going to energize the franchise. He almost reminds me of a fiery RB version of Wayne Chrebet. He plays with a chip on his shoulder, and with him falling to Day 3, he is going to want to punish. EVERY. SINGLE. FRANCHISE. THAT. PASSED. ON. HIM. Remember all those Jets fans with Chrebet jerseys? I am betting that Skattebo turns out legions of the Giants faithful with a new hero they can root for. Wonder is not shy in his praise of Skattebo either. “He reminds me of a poor man’s Larry Csonka, the Miami Csonka, not the Giants Csonka.” For all of you younger-types who do not know, Csonka was the gold standard of the Dolphins dynasty, a fixture Fullback when Fullbacks were the alpha of the team.
If all of this was not enough, there was yet more. Apparently Marcus Mbow (pronounced Bow) had an injury so he kept falling. And falling. (Schoen later denied any injury in the post draft press conference. All the better.) But the Giants did not pick at the beginning of the 5th, because that pick went to Carolina in the Burns deal. Oh wait, the Giants still picked at 5.154 with the SEA pick from the Leonard Williams deal. But this was literally 49 slots later. That would not matter because at 5.154 the Gmen took OL Marcus Mbow. Ridiculous.
In the press conference, Daboll noted that the Giants would have taken Mbow at 4.105 if Skattebo was off the board.
Mbow is a nasty OLmen and Wonder loves that. “Schoen once again got value at that spot,” said Wonder. Considering I wanted him at 1.05, this was more than I could possibly ask for, and BBB was effusive in praise for another one of their “Guys.” Mbow can play Tackle and Guard. He also has said he may move to Center. Schoen and Daboll indicated in the press conference that Mbow was going to begin as a Tackle. He has “feather feet,” says Falato. He can move in space, and having that kind of versatility for R5 just adds more value to the pick.
Here is the AI summary of BBB on Mbow:
Mbow is an athletic, light-footed offensive lineman with great lower-body quickness, high intelligence, and smooth pass sets. Despite being undersized with short arms, he mirrors well and uses good technique and toughness in both run and pass blocking. Mbow projects as a versatile, high-value starter or swing lineman.
Projected Draft Range: Round 3, with possible Day 3 slide.
Endorsement: Both Nick and Dan strongly endorse Mbow — calling him a Zach Tom-like steal and a great fit at #65 or even #99 if he falls.
Allegedly he fell because of an injury. When you have an Offensive lineman with skills who falls into Round 5 due to medical, you take him. These are the kinds of moves that teams like the Eagles and Ravens make. They are low risk huge reward plays. Value once again.
When I spoke to Wonder about these two Day 3 picks, I told him this was an “A” grade. Wonder’s response: “A+.”
“The Giants did extremely well for value,” said Wonder. “Every pick was sound and good. We won’t know what Dart will become, but I liked their process. I liked all of their picks and I loved the Skattebo pick.
“I have always loved Skattebo. The guy never stops grinding. 1000% effort. Tough as nails. If you want to tackle him, you better do it very well or else you will be tossed aside.”
Wonder singled out four teams who he felt did really well in the Draft: The Giants, Seattle, Arizona and (of course) Philadelphia.
The Giants finished off their draft with 2 more players in Round 7, one of which was CB Korie Black, who got a Top 30 visit (6 of the 7 ended up as such). So the Giants did their homework on these players. If I did not know any better, I would have guessed that they did nothing and merely outsourced it all to Big Blue Banter. Great work Dan and Nick. It is one thing to like a pick, but quite another to spell out who your guys are and then watch the Giants hit them. Alexander, Skattebo and Mbow were all BBB guys. Together with Wonder’s concurring sentiments, this has the makings of a back to back excellent set of drafts. The Defense has a top 3-5 pass rush possibility, says Wonder, while BBB thinks it could literally be the best in the NFL. That can forge an identity. All that is left are the “boo’s” for our new running back.