The New York Giants are sitting pretty with the No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. The Giants are on the search for their next franchise quarterback, which they might be able to steal with their first-round pick, however, if they are out of range for a quarterback with the third-overall selection, that won’t be much of a bother to New York.
Giants: Two-round mock draft lands elite prospect and high-upside quarterback
Picking third in the draft order, the Giants are in a perfect position to land an elite first-round prospect. If that prospect is a non-quarterback, their second-round selection could then be used to find a signal-caller.
If the draft’s top two quarterback prospects (Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders) are both taken off the board by the Tennessee Titans and the Cleveland Browns with the first two picks in the draft, that would leave the class’s top prospect available for the Giants’ taking.
In this mock draft by Fireside Giants, the Giants land that top prospect, Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter, then circle back around to draft their quarterback in Round 2:
- First Round (Pick No. 3 Overall): Colorado CB/WR Travis Hunter
- Second Round (Pick No. 34 Overall): Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart
Travis Hunter could be a game-changer
The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner is a rare and special talent. Hunter made history this season as the first player in college football history to win both the Chuck Bednarik (Defensive Player of the Year in college football) and the Fred Biletnikoff Awards (Wide Receiver of the Year in college football).
Hunter put up a Big 12-leading 96 receptions and 15 touchdowns with 1,258 receiving yards on one side of the ball. On the other side of the ball, he was a shutdown cornerback, racking up a combined 36 tackles with 11 pass defenses and four interceptions.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Hunter earned an elite 90.7 Pro Football Focus coverage grade and 89.1 receiving grade this season. He is an elite two-way player who could fill two major needs for the Giants, upgrading their secondary at cornerback and giving them a playmaker to pair with Malik Nabers in their receiving corps.
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Could Jaxson Dart be a steal in the second round?
Dart, meanwhile, could be the perfect high-upside mid-round prospect for the G-Men to take a flier on in the second round. He isn’t viewed as one of the top two quarterbacks in the draft class, but Dart has a strong case for the QB3 ranking and could be viewed as a developmental starter by teams vying for a quarterback in April.
This season, competing in the SEC, Dart put up record-breaking numbers for Ole Miss. Dart became the Ole Miss career passing leader, surpassing Giants legend Eli Manning’s career mark of 10,119 career passing yards this season, taking his total to 10,213 as the 2024 regular season concluded with a 26-14 win over Mississippi State. He finished the 2024 season with 4,279 passing yards, a 29-6 TD-INT ratio, a 69.3% completion rate, and a nation-leading 180.7 passer rating.
Dart has recently started to get more buzz as a potential “steal” in the upcoming NFL Draft. According to Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, one long-time NFL Scout gave Dart a glowing review:
“He’s gonna be a major steal in the draft,” Schultz says one scout told him. “Throws the ball down the field as well as anyone, which I realize is kinda this lost skill in today’s game, but that’s what makes him so interesting. Get Dart a couple speed guys and he can really hurt you.”
If going quarterback in Round 2 is the plan, Dart might be the Giants’ top target. He isn’t a sure-thing, first-round guy, but he has the tools and traits for a good coach to develop. Dart could be a steal in the second round.
Making the argument for Travis Hunter over the NFL Draft’s other top prospects:
Alex Wilson of Empire Sports Media and Fireside Giants made the argument for drafting Hunter in the first round:
“What’s the Giants weakest position group on defense?” Wilson proposed the question. “Cornerback. What is one of the Giants’ weakest position groups on offense? Wide receiver. Why not draft the one-size-fits-all that helps reinforce both of those positions?
“…This is a player that has instincts and physical attributes that, simply, they’re a gift from God. You just can’t teach these things… I just don’t really think it’s that difficult of a decision. I think it should be easy. Travis Hunter should be an easy choice if you’re the Giants at pick No. 3 and Cam Ward is off the board.”
Hear the full discussion between Alex and I on this mock draft and our arguments for both Hunter and Dart in the latest episode of Fireside Giants, linked down below:
