The path to finding the New York Giants’ next franchise quarterback has been complicated by their recent Week 17 win over the Colts and subsequent slide in the draft order. Now slated to pick fourth overall, the Giants might miss out on the top quarterback prospects in the 2025 draft class. Rather than selling the farm to trade up for one of the top prospects, perhaps the Giants could go “the Jalen Hurts route,” waiting until Day 2 of the draft to potentially select their franchise quarterback, as their division-rival Philadelphia Eagles successfully pulled off in 2020.
Could the Giants wait until Day 2 to draft a quarterback?
The wide belief is that the Giants will take the quarterback that they deem the best available as early as possible in April’s 2025 NFL Draft. That is usually the route teams take to find a franchise quarterback. However, every now and again, some franchises hit on their quarterback selections outside of the first round, as the Eagles did with Hurts.
The Eagles drafted Hurts in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The Alabama product served as a backup for much of his rookie season but eventually got his opportunity to start in 2021 and hasn’t looked back. Hurts has been Philadelphia’s starting quarterback for the last four seasons, leading them to a 45-17 record in that span and being selected to the Pro Bowl twice with a third-place finish in MVP voting in 2022.
The 2020 NFL Draft class was loaded with quarterback talent featuring the likes of Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, and Justin Herbert all going off the board in the first six picks of the first round. But, since they didn’t have a high draft pick, it wasn’t until the second round that the Eagles drafted their guy — and it’s worked out well for them.
Jalen Milroe could be the 2025 NFL Draft’s version of Hurts
Perhaps the Giants could deploy a similar strategy in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller recently suggested to the New York Post that Alabama QB Jalen Milroe could be this year’s version of Hurts:
“He is a project,” Miller said of Milroe to The Post. “But, especially if you are like, ‘We want to go the Jalen Hurts route,’ that’s your guy.”
Milroe surprisingly declared for the 2025 NFL Draft recently despite some inconsistent performances down the final stretch of the college football season. While there is a chance he ends up a first-round pick, his current projection has him as an early Day 2 selection — just as Hurts was in 2020.
Milroe would bring a special skill set to the Giants
As Miller points out, Milroe is far from a finished product. He is a toolsy quarterback with a special, dual-threat skill set, but some clear weaknesses as a passer. Milroe needs time to grow and develop at the next level. If paired with the right coach and placed in the right environment, Milroe’s physical traits give him an incredibly high ceiling and limitless potential. Some analysts think Giants head coach Brian Daboll might be that perfect coaching pairing for Milroe.
Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team projected Milroe to the Giants in a mock draft back in November and highlighted Daboll’s quarterback coaching proficiency as a reason to justify the selection:
“It’s easier to justify taking Jalen Milroe if the New York Giants keep Brian Daboll as the head coach,” Valentino argued. “A tremendous athlete with inconsistent accuracy and field vision, Milroe isn’t a lock to enter the 2025 class.
“However, the need for quarterbacks is so high, and Milroe can do things that only a few others on Earth can. If he declares, he’ll go high and will require patience as he develops.”
Whether or not the Giants keep Daboll remains to be seen. The third-year head coach is on the hot seat after a disappointing 2024 campaign that saw the Giants lose a franchise record 10 straight games. If he is retained for the 2025 season, however, Daboll might consider Milroe an interesting match considering he too has ties to Alabama. Daboll coached for the Crimson Tide back in 2017 as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach where he helped develop Hurts into the signal-caller he is today.
NFL Draft analyst likens Milroe to Bills superstar QB Josh Allen
In that same conversation with The Post, Miller likened Milroe to another superstar quarterback with a connection to Daboll: Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills. Following his one-year stint with Alabama in 2017, Daboll graduated to the NFL’s coaching ranks, taking over as the Bills’ offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2021. During that tenure, Daboll helped develop Allen into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks and a perennial MVP candidate.
Miller compared Milroe’s raw skill set to Allen’s highlighting a need for development from a strong coach to unlock immense potential:
“It’s like early Josh Allen,” Miller said. “You see where he’s going with the ball and it’s like, ‘OK, that’s a good decision.’ But then it’s 10 yards over the guy’s head. It might be bad at times because he needs his mechanics reworked, but amazing at times because he’s a playmaker.”
Allen is among the NFL’s best dual-threat quarterbacks. He’s accounted for 40 total touchdowns this season — 28 passing and 12 rushing. Over the last two seasons, Allen has racked up a combined 27 rushing touchdowns and 57 passing touchdowns. Few quarterbacks have legs as dangerous as Allen’s.
The same can be said about Milroe at the collegiate level. He rushed for 20 touchdowns compared to only 16 passing touchdowns in 2024. His 16-11 TD-INT ratio is underwhelming enough to give scouts and analysts pause on Milroe’s passing abilities. However, his dynamism as a rusher cannot be denied.
Milroe has elite, potential 4.3 speed — a trait possessed by very few quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. If the right coach can straighten out his footwork and mechanics, developing him into a more accurate and decisive passer, there would be no ceiling on Milroe’s potential — which is the argument scouts made for Allen when he was coming out in the 2018 NFL Draft.
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The Giants need to hit on their next quarterback selection
The Giants need to get their next quarterback selection right. The last time they drafted a quarterback was in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft when they selected Daniel Jones. It was a shaky six years with Jones under center, but that era has officially come to an end.
Milroe might be the riskiest possible selection at quarterback in this year’s draft. That boom-or-bust potential is exciting, yet simultaneously terrifying for NFL front offices. If a coach can somehow get Milroe to hit his ceiling, his talent could rival that of MVP candidates in Hurts, Allen, or another popular comparison, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.
However, if Milroe’s flaws prove to be too much to overcome, he will be just another big swing and miss for the Giants — a franchise that desperately needs to hit a home run.
