McShay says there is a split among the Giants

[londonblue]

McShay, unlike Schefter, did stick his neck out and concluded we take Carter at 3.

He thinks the Saints are out on Sanders, and not just at 9.

He believes the Steelers like but don't love Sanders (again some doubters internally) and might prefer to trade back to gain day 2 picks.

We might be only team even willing to think about trading with them. With Daboll supposedly preferring Dart he concluded we might but should not do it as we would be bidding against ourselves with Cleveland liking Sanders but not wanting to give up picks.

However, we might make the trade up for Dart to thwart New Orleans moving up into late R1 for him as they prefer Dart to Sanders. He says they are actively exploring that.

Confused? Well, that is the purpose of draft smoke season! Three days and ten hours or so until we know. It cannot pass fast enough.

[MightyGiants]

More from McShay on this year's QB class:

This year's QB2 would have been QB6 or QB7 last year.


What the "Best Available Player" strategy could mean for the QB class.

I'm hearing a lot of talk in league circles that teams don't feel like they have to select according to need and instead will take the top prospect available. I expect this approach to affect the quarterback class in particular, which has long been considered an underwhelming group. At this point, it wouldn't shock me to see just one QB (Cam Ward) selected in Round 1.

It's possible a team trades up into the first for a QB to secure a fifth-year option, but I don't know of any obvious candidates as of this writing. More specifically, I have no expectation that the Browns will trade up from 33, and I've heard that the Saints won't be drafting Shedeur Sanders in the first or second round. Jaxson Dart has some love in league circles, but I'm not sure there's a large enough gap between him and my QB4 (Tyler Shough) in this class to justify taking Dart over a player who's more of a sure thing.

[MightyGiants]

To @londonblue point



Dan Duggan
@DDuggan21
·
1m
They wouldn't. That's why all of these reports are couched. Draft reporting is basically a big game of telephone. There are a ton of people in the organization involved in the process at varying levels of power and access. They all talk to people — colleagues from other teams, agents, college coaches, reporters, etc.

So it's not like Joe Schoen calls up Schefter and says, "We're really torn on Sanders." But what happens is people in the organization talk, word gets around to reporters and you end up with a lot of these "sense around the league" reports. How much stock you put into them is up to you. But that's how it works

https://x.com/DDuggan21/status/1914333790459007486

[DaveBrown74]

Dissenting opinion is healthy.  It means the system is working.  Schoen just needs to make the decision.

Hasn't Mara made it explicitly clear that he does not want a player picked unless both the head coach and the GM are on the same page? I'm positive I have heard him say that before.

[4 Aces]

What we're seeing now is the fall-out from awkwardly keeping Schoen and Daboll around after they were clearly toying with firing them.

It isn't hard to read the tea leaves here. Mara says he's "staying out of it" but personnel people want Sanders while Schoen & Co don't. Those personnel people are Tim McDonnell and Chris Mara. So that includes John, too. Way back in 2017, after the Eli benching fiasco, Mara came out with a quote (paraphrasing) "who the QB of this team is, is my decision". Always stuck with me. And ownership is usually involved with the QB decision on every team.

Traditionally, we know what happens next. If Sanders is a great QB, all is good. If he's anything but, and Carter goes on to be Micah Parsons 2....

[MightyGiants]

What we're seeing now is the fall-out from awkwardly keeping Schoen and Daboll around after they were clearly toying with firing them.

It isn't hard to read the tea leaves here. Mara says he's "staying out of it" but personnel people want Sanders while Schoen & Co don't. Those personnel people are Tim McDonnell and Chris Mara. So that includes John, too. Way back in 2017, after the Eli benching fiasco, Mara came out with a quote (paraphrasing) "who the QB of this team is, is my decision". Always stuck with me. And ownership is usually involved with the QB decision on every team.

Traditionally, we know what happens next. If Sanders is a great QB, all is good. If he's anything but, and Carter goes on to be Micah Parsons 2....

That is my fear (to the part in bold).  The Mara clan overriding the hired football professionals is my worst nightmare.   If true, if the Giants do pass on Sanders at three, I could see a trade back to get him being more likley.

[MightyGiants]

Shefter gives his take:


From the moment the draft process kicked off, the biggest question has been where Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders will be selected. It continues to be the single most intriguing storyline heading into Thursday night. No team has done more work on one player than the Giants have done on Sanders.

Officials from the Giants' organization were at most, if not all, of Sanders' games last season. They went to some of his practices. They met with him at the combine in Indianapolis in March. They flew him to New Jersey for a visit. They went to his "Showcase Day" in Boulder, Colorado. They went back to Colorado on Thursday to put Sanders through a private workout and spent a full day with him exactly one week ahead of the draft. As another NFL general manager said about the Giants general manager: "Joe Schoen has lived in Boulder."

The Giants even had access to added unique insight that no one else did: Colorado's director of on-campus recruiting for the football team is Maileka Slayton, sister of Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton.

And yet there still might not be consensus within the building about whether to draft him. There is a belief around the league that certain segments of the Giants organization want Sanders more than others. Per sources, Sanders wants to be in a place where he has the full support of an organization, and there are questions about whether the Giants fit into that category.

Here are insights into each of the three teams linked to the Sanders and their perceived level of interest in him:


New York Giants (No. 3): Scheduling a private workout for Sanders on Thursday initially seemed like a big deal, but it was not as big as it seemed. The Giants did the same thing with the top quarterbacks they considered in last year's draft. They had visits and/or private workouts with Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix.

This year's private workouts came later, and closer to the draft, but that was only because Sanders held his pro day on April 4. Even if the Giants bypass Sanders with their top pick -- and there are split opinions across the league about whether they will -- they always can attempt to trade back into Round 1 to try to land him later.

As some evaluators pointed out, however, if they like him enough to trade back up for him, they should like him enough to take him at No. 3. As an NFL executive said about the Giants: "If they like Shedeur, they're taking him at 3."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/insider/story/_/id/44715900/2025-nfl-draft-notes-intel-buzz-adam-schefter-first-round-picks-teams-shedeur-sanders

[MightyGiants]

More from McShay:


New York Giants
If the Giants pass on Shedeur Sanders at 3 and are unable to move up to get Dart, will they still take a QB in Round 2 or do you foresee them taking a flyer on a guy in the later rounds? And if so, who should or would they target in rounds 3-5?

 —John

If Sanders is the guy Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen want, I think there will be an opportunity to move back into Round 1 to get him. The reason the Giants' private jet keeps loading up on fuel is that they're trying to—in the eleventh hour—get close to a consensus with the key decision-makers in that organization. And I want to make it perfectly clear: I don't think it has to do with pick no. 3. The trip to Boulder (to meet with Sanders) on Thursday followed by trips to Tuscaloosa (Jalen Milroe) on Friday and Louisville (Tyler Shough) on Saturday were to make a final decision on which QB they're most comfortable with (plus they worked out Dart earlier in the draft process). Once those decisions have been made, they can figure out whether they need to make a move back into Round 1 to get Sanders or Dart or whether they can stick and pick at 34.

[MightyGiants]

Connor Hughes
@Connor_J_Hughes
·
Apr 21
Jaxson Dart is a name to watch for the #Giants as a trade-up option on Thursday. Sources I touched base with said he's someone Brian Daboll is high on — most out of QBs other than Cam Ward. Among qualities Daboll values in QBs is toughness. Dart has that.

Giants won't be alone in QB pursuit, though. Matter of how aggressive they want to be.

There's not much out there right now connecting Shedeur Sanders to Giants. That hype has cooled dramatically from where it was in December.

https://x.com/Connor_J_Hughes/status/1914303246694322672

[coggs]

I could be wrong here, but I think people are reading too much into it.  I fully expect personnel people to have different opinions on players, especially a player who seems like everyone has a different opinion on.  When it comes to the QB, you HAVE to be convinced that he is the guy who can be a top-15 QB for 8-10 years if you are going to take him at 3.  The debate could also be whether to trade back into the first round for Sanders after taking Carter or Hunter at 3.  Could be whether to trade down from 3 with the thought you will take Sanders later and pick up some assets. Argument doesn't have to be whether he should be the pick at 3 or not.

[MightyGiants]

I could be wrong here, but I think people are reading too much into it.  I fully expect personnel people to have different opinions on players, especially a player who seems like everyone has a different opinion on.  When it comes to the QB, you HAVE to be convinced that he is the guy who can be a top-15 QB for 8-10 years if you are going to take him at 3.  The debate could also be whether to trade back into the first round for Sanders after taking Carter or Hunter at 3.  Could be whether to trade down from 3 with the thought you will take Sanders later and pick up some assets. Argument doesn't have to be whether he should be the pick at 3 or not.

This is an excellent point

[4 Aces]

Giants have been in touch with the Vikings about a trade up to #24, should the player they want be available. Wonder who it is.

[coggs]

Giants have been in touch with the Vikings about a trade up to #24, should the player they want be available. Wonder who it is.

If I had to guess, I would say Dart.  Although, would LOVE if it is for the DT from Oregon.

Using the Jimmy Johnson model, to go from 34 to 24 is 180 points.  65 is 265.  99 and 105 total 188.  So, 34+99+104 for 24?  Minnesota only has 4 picks, so they may be interested in doing business.

[4 Aces]

BTW - McShay is saying tonight he has late intel on the Giants:

Hearing these reports, you get an idea how torn the building is right now.

40 hours away:

*Allegedly the personnel people want Sanders. (Assuming that's Director of Player Personnel Tim McDonnell and Senior Player Personnel Executive Chris Mara.) There's also speculation Brandon Brown wants Sanders too.

*Daboll wants Dart and just wants to take him at 3. Feeling is Saints will take him at 9.

*Schoen wants Carter, and then try to trade back up for Dart.

Take it FWIW.

[coggs]

Taking Dart at 3 would be utter stupidity.