These Giants Rookie Draft Picks Could Become Week 1 Starters

The New York Giants brass wants as many members of its 2025 rookie class to hit the ground running as possible, and the early projections look promising.

Pro Football Focus’s Dalton Wasserman, in his analysis of which 2025 drafted rookies are poised to be starters in their inaugural campaigns, broke down which rookies are virtual locks and which could be Week 1 starters pending the outcome of a competition. 

On offense, Wasserman has Giants fourth-round pick Cam Skattebo, a running back out of Arizona State, as a rookie who could win a competition. 

For Skattebo, the competition he’d probably have to win is beating out veteran Devin Singletary for the RB2 role, as second-year man Tyrone Tracy, Jr. worked his way into the RB1 role as last year went on. 

But if we’re talking “true starters,” as in being out on the field for the first snap, it’s unlikely that Skattebo will accomplish that unless the Giants plan on opening the regular season with two running backs.

Again, before anyone can pencil in Skattebo ahead of Singletary on the depth chart, the rookie must show that he can pass block on third downs to secure his climb up the team’s depth chart. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Wasserman has edge Abdul Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, as a “virtual lock” to be a starter and defensive lineman Darius Alexander in the “could win a competition” category.

We’ll start with Carter. Obviously, given where he was selected, the expectation is that he’ll unseat someone for the right to be on the field, and a common belief is that the someone he could unseat is Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Giants’ 2022 first-round pick chosen two spots in the order after where Carter was selected. 

But that’s not necessarily a lock, as depending on how defensive coordinator Shane Bowen plans to deploy Carter within the defense, he may not get his first snaps on the edge. 

Instead, Carter could go back to his college roots as an inside linebacker, where he simply mills around the middle, leaving opposing offenses to guess if he’ll be coming, staying home, or dropping into coverage.

The point here is that even if Carter doesn’t initially surpass Thibodeaux on the depth chart, Carter won't have much of a chance to keep the bench warm as a player of his talent needs to be out on the field as much as possible. It’s up to Bowen to figure out how to make that happen.

As for Alexander, there is indeed a chance that he wins the starting 3-tech/defensive end role, but again, Bowen could instead be looking at a rotation of defensive linemen to start the season, just to keep them all fresh as the last of the warm weather fades.

Or, given Alexander’s versatility, there could be instances where he fills in for Dexter Lawrence II at nose tackle, depending on how well he develops.

The bottom line as far as the Giants’ draft picks go is that with very few exceptions (quarterback Jaxson Dart, potentially tight end Thomas Fidone, and cornerback Korie Black), all of the rookies are likely to have a role this year in some capacity.

Being a “starter” simply means the player is on the field to start the game; what’s more important is how much action the players see and what they do with it as they carve out their NFL niches.