One of the most common things said about the 2025 NFL Draft for months is that it is considered extremely thin regarding premier quarterback talent.
Last offseason, the draft pool was loaded with first-round caliber prospects, and six arms went in the top 32 selections, notably Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, whom the New York Giants couldn’t move up the board and missed out on after winning six games in the 2023 season.
The current class isn’t as deep this time, and there is a lack of consensus regarding how many quarterbacks will go in the first couple of rounds.
Even though the demand is always there, Cam Ward is viewed as the only guy who presumably goes No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans as the lone surefire franchise shifter under center.
With the rest of the prospects being heavily questioned regarding NFL readiness, some teams have pondered the thought of waiting until next year’s draft, when a much stronger class of signal callers will declare for the pros, to address the most critical position in football.
That includes the Giants, of whom many are waiting to see if they truly have an affinity for guys like Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart and are willing to attack one of them in round one or wait until round two.
Whether they should do that is one thing, but what if they didn’t have to clutch their pearls until 2026? By that, we mean the possibility of this year’s draft class being broadened to include prospective players who haven’t yet met the league’s policy of three seasons at college before putting their name into the ring.
In a new and creative mock draft by Pro Football Focus, that dream is made real for the first round as players from both the 2026 and 2027 classes were thrown into the mix to see how it would change the overall landscape of the initial 32 selections, and it certainly altered the outcomes of the quarterback position.
The mock began with the Titans and Browns choosing two gunslingers from future classes in Texas’s Arch Manning and Florida’s D.J. Lagway. Those moves opened the door for the Giants to land Miami’s Ward at the No. 3 pick, a guy they had reportedly had a high interest in.
“It’s no secret that the Giants would select Cam Ward in this year’s draft if he is still on the board,” the analysis said.
“Ward was the highest-graded quarterback in college football in 2024. His combination of decisive downfield passing and improvisational skills makes him the perfect candidate to run New York’s offense. Ward throwing to Malik Nabers would be thrilling to watch.”
Having Arch Manning as a headliner in this mock is undoubtedly interesting, as he has been a player engulfed in the Giants discussions regarding a quarterback for the long term.
Some minds have thought the Giants should pull away from the names in this year’s class and preserve the quarterback selection until the 2025 draft when Manning presumably would come out.
The only problem with that thinking is that several factors could get in the way of that plan. The first is that the Giants can’t truly predict what’s going to happen this season with Russell Wilson leading the offense, where, even though the expectations are dismal, he could help the team produce a few extra wins that would drop the Giants out of range of a top pick.
More importantly, we live in the new era of NIL in college football and how that affects the timeline for players entering the draft. It’s not implausible that Manning, who still has a few seasons of eligibility, could go against the grain and stick around with Texas to continue molding his resume or the pros.
The Giants are in a challenging position regarding their quarterback dilemma, with a week left until the 2025 draft opens. They are stout about not forcing a pick for a player, but they seem interested in considering a late first—or early second-round prospect if they stand out as a future franchise option.
Depending on how the season unfolds, the Schoen-Daboll regime might not get that shot again in the 2026 offseason, making the slight pressure to evaluate these prospects one final time a little bit more present before the ultimate decision is made, one that still has been steering towards a generational talent in the forefront of the class.
One thing's for certain: the Giants were definitely in pursuit of Ward throughout the process, between attending his pro day at Miami and being reportedly engaged in talks with the Titans over a potential trade up the draft board.
All that has gone silent as Tennessee appears destined to take Ward at the first pick to fulfill their long-awaited need for a franchise savior. While this mock allows the Giants to dream, it’s unrealistic about how things will turn out if they go for a quarterback.
Instead, they’ll likely see how Sanders’ stock drops if he gets past the Saints at No. 9, who are now believed to be seriously in the market for an arm after Derek Carr’s latest injury status.
They’ll also have to monitor the situation in Pittsburgh, where a potential shift could take place in the first round if the Giants or another team moves to jump the Steelers for a second-tier quarterback.
