2025 NFL Season Preview: New York Giants

Malik Nabers

New York Giants (Last Year: 3-14)

2025 NFL Season Preview:

Veteran Additions:
QB Jameis Winston, QB Russell Wilson, OT James Hudson, OT Stone Forsythe, DT Roy Robertson-Harris, OLB Chauncey Golston, LB Chris Board, CB Paulson Adebo, S Jevon Holland.
Early Draft Picks:
DE Abdul Carter, QB Jaxson Dart, DT Darius Alexander, RB Cam Skattebo. Giants Rookie Forecast
Offseason Losses:
QB Drew Lock, OLB Azeez Ojulari, CB Adoree Jackson, S Jason Pinnock.

2025 New York Giants Offense:
The Daniel Jones era is over. The Giants have moved on without the former first-round pick, though it was unclear what they were going to do heading into the offseason. They signed Jameis Winston and then Russell Wilson, seemingly closing the door on a quarterback at No. 3 overall. They eschewed a signal-caller with that selection, but then ended up trading into the back end of the opening round for Jaxson Dart.

While Dart has some impressive tools, one of Wilson or Winston will likely start right away. It was reported that the Giants won’t use Dart until the second half of his rookie season, though the team would perhaps expedite the process if he looks great in practice. However, while there’s upside with Dart, he is also an unfinished product who struggles with pocket presence, so he could get crushed if the offensive line isn’t protecting well.

Of course, the offensive line has been a huge issue for New York over the years. The blocking has always been poor, save for when left tackle Andrew Thomas has been on the field. Thomas is an incredible left tackle, but has an extensive injury history. He played in only six games last season, so the Giants will need him to be on the field much more often now that there’s a rookie quarterback to protect. When healthy, Thomas’ bookend would be Jermaine Eluemunor, who provided some needed stability at the position last year after the Giants endured Evan Neal’s anemic play.

The interior blocking is worse than what the Giants have at tackle. Two of the starters aren’t horrible, however, as John Michael Schmitz and Greg Van Roten were just adequate last season. Schmitz is a young center, so he has the potential to improve entering his third year. The lone liability in the interior is left guard Jon Runyan. Fifth-round rookie Marcus Mbow might be able to challenge for the job.

Dart will also have two dynamic skill players at his disposal once he takes over the starting gig. The first is Malik Nabers, who was posting insane numbers with Daniel Jones last year. Nabers is a special player who is already on the verge of being one of the best receivers in the NFL. There’s nothing else at receiver, however, as Wan’Dale Robinson does nothing but catch short passes. There’s also Darius Slayton who has the occasional solid game, but usually does nothing. Tight end Theo Johnson is athletic with plus upside, at least.

The other dynamic skill player is Tyrone Tracy, who took over for Devin Singletary last year and provided the Giants with many explosive plays. New York drafted Cam Skattebo, who made a name for himself in the college football playoff. Skattebo, however, may not even pass Devin Singletary on the depth chart this year. He may serve as the team’s goal-line back.



2025 New York Giants Defense:
It was easy for the Giants to pass on the quarterbacks available at the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Not only were the options at the position poor, but New York had a great talent available for them in Abdul Carter.

Though Carter didn’t fill a need because the Giants already had two excellent edge rushers in Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, Carter was the right pick because he was the best player available and will further enhance a pass rush that was just in the middle of the pack in pressure rate.

New York’s leader in sacks from 2024 hasn’t even been discussed yet. That was Dexter Lawrence, who beat out Brian Burns by a half of a sack with nine. Lawrence is one of the better defensive linemen in the NFL, as he thrives in both run support and the pass rush. There wasn’t much else on the three-man defensive front, so the Giants signed Roy Robertson-Harris and then used a third-round draft pick on Darius Alexander to join Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Both Robertson-Harris and Nunez-Roches were underwhelming veterans last year – Robertson-Harris played for Seattle – so the Giants will need Alexander to thrive as a rookie to give Lawrence some support up front.

The Giants also signed a couple of veterans to aid the secondary. One was Paulson Adebo, who performed well for the Saints at cornerback. This has been a problematic position for the Giants over the past few years. Adebo figures to start with Deonte Banks on the outside, which doesn’t sound great because Banks was woeful last year. Banks is at least still young, so perhaps he can improve. New York is better off in the slot, as Andru Phillips did a great job there despite being a third-round rookie.

The other free agency addition is Jevon Holland, a highly athletic tight end who performed well for Miami. The Giants sorely missed Xavier McKinney last year, and while Holland is no McKinney, he’s at least a significant upgrade over what New York had at safety. Holland will start next to 2024 second-rounder Tyler Nubin, who had a solid season.

No changes were made at linebacker, as Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden will reprise their starting roles. Okereke, formerly of the Colts, provided the Giants with some needed stability at the position as a three-down solution. McFadden, meanwhile, was solid in run support, but struggled in coverage.



2025 New York Giants Schedule and Intangibles:
Graham Gano missed some time with an injury last year, which would explain why he was just 9-of-11 with his field goals. He hit both tries from 50-plus.

Jamie Gillan didn’t have a good net punting average last season (27th), but did extremely well to pin the opposition inside the 20.

The Giants have a tough fourth-place schedule. They have to go up against the Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, 49ers, Packers, Lions, Vikings, and also the Eagles and Redskins twice each.




2025 New York Giants Rookies:
Go here for the Giants Rookie Forecast, a page with predictions like which rookie will bust and which rookie will become a solid starter.



2025 New York Giants Positional Rankings (1-5 stars):
Quarterbacks
Offensive Line
Secondary
Running Backs
Defensive Line
Special Teams
Receivers
Linebackers
Coaching


2025 New York Giants Analysis: The Giants have some things going for them, namely Malik Nabers, Andrew Thomas, and their fantastic pass rush. However, there are so many holes on the roster, including quarterback. They also have to endure a very difficult schedule, so they won’t be able to accumulate many wins.

Projection: 4-13 (TBA in NFC East)

2024 Projection: 4-13. 2024 Actual Result: 3-14.
2023 Projection: 9-8. 2023 Actual Result: 6-11.
2022 Projection: 5-12. 2022 Actual Result: 9-7-1.
2021 Projection: 7-10. 2021 Actual Result: 4-13.
2020 Projection: 11-5. 2020 Actual Result: 6-10.
2019 Projection: 5-11. 2019 Actual Result: 4-12.
2018 Projection: 6-10. 2018 Actual Result: 5-11.
2017 Projection: 7-9. 2017 Actual Result: 3-13. =
2016 Projection: 7-9. 2016 Actual Result: 11-5.

NFL Draft Team Grade: B+ Grade

Goals Entering the 2025 NFL Draft: The Giants need a franchise quarterback, but their front office is in a lame-duck situation, so it may not address the position in this draft until the middle rounds. Given this odd situation, Giants ownership should have fired everyone involved. Nevertheless, the Giants have a miserable roster that is lacking talent in many places. They need to obtain the best player available with every pick.

2025 NFL Draft Accomplishments: Everyone expected the Abdul Carter selection, so let’s discuss Jaxson Dart. It was an odd pick by the front office because a losing season will probably mean that there will be new people in charge next year, so logic would dicatate that ownership weighed in on the decision. Either way, it was a mistake to trade up for Dart when the Giants could have traded down and obtained Shedeur Sanders, or perhaps even Dart himself.

Aside from the Dart mishap, the Giants had a great draft. Excluding the Dart pick, all of their selections in the first six rounds all earned A- grades or better. And even their two seventh-round choices scored B+ grades. Cam Skattebo and Marcus Mbow were terrific values in the middle rounds.

If the Giants hadn’t panicked by trading up for Dart, they would have earned an “A” for their draft class. They must be downgraded for the decision, but they had a great draft class otherwise.

NFL Draft Individual Grades:


3. Abdul Carter, DE, Penn State – A- Grade

We return to normalcy. The one argument you can make about this pick is that it doesn’t satisfy a need. The Giants have tons of needs, but they had a quality edge rush last year. However, Carter is the best player available, and Kayvon Thibodeaux has an expiring contract in the near future. Besides, you can never have too many talented pass rushers, especially in a division with Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels


25. Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss – C+ Grade

It was obvious the Giants would draft a quarterback when they traded up to No. 25, but I actually thought that one of the safety picks would have been better. Jaxson Dart is not a first-round prospect, so the Giants shouldn’t have traded up for him, although two third-round picks isn’t the worst compensation to surrender. I get this pick, but New York should have been more patient. Dart could have easily fallen to them.


65. Darius Alexander, DT, Toledo – A- Grade

The Giants lead off Round 3 with a solid pick. Darius Alexander gets good pressure on the quarterback, so given the talent level at quarterback in the division, it makes sense for the Giants to bolster their front seven.


105. Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State – A+ Grade

It’s amazing that Cam Skattebo was available in Round 4. Someone needs to do a collusion investigation on him falling. In all seriousness, I love this pick. It doesn’t fill a huge need, but Skattebo is one of the best players available. I thought he should have gone in Round 2.


154. Marcus Mbow, G, Purdue – A Grade

Given how poor the Giants’ offensive line has been, they can’t be criticized for adding quality blocking for Jaxson Dart. Marcus Mbow is a bit of a project because he needs to get stronger for the NFL, but he has good quickness and athleticism. I love the upside.


219. Thomas Fidone, TE, Nebraska – B+ Grade

Some tight end depth behind Theo Johnson makes sense for the Giants. Fidone was seen as a sixth-round prospect, so the range is about right. Fidone is very athletic and has upside.


246. Korie Black, CB, Oklahoma State – B+ Grade

I had the Giants drafting Korie Black 30 picks earlier than this. Black was getting a ton of buzz late in the draft process, so I’m not surprised to see him chosen at this spot. He’ll have a chance to compete for a starting job in a weak secondary.

Follow me @walterfootball for updates.





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