The New York Giants need to find a new quarterback in 2025, but Pro Football Focus doesn’t believe QB is the best route in round one of the NFL draft.
Instead, PFF called this year’s Heisman Trophy winner — cornerback/wide receiver hybrid Travis Hunter — Big Blue’s “perfect” prospect at No. 3 overall.
“While the Giants are retaining both general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, owner John Mara on Monday expressed a lack of patience with the club’s current trajectory,” PFF’s Jordan Plocher and Josh Liskiewitz wrote on January 14. “This could lead to the Giants being big players in the QB free agent market, with designs on looking elsewhere at pick No. 3.”
“The Giants defense loves deploying Cover 1 (28.8% of pass snaps in Cover-1 ranks sixth highest in the league). However, opposing QBs consistently exploited New York cornerbacks, registering a 113.3 passer rating without tossing a single interception when the Giants utilized the coverage,” the analysts went on.
Concluding: “Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter makes all the sense in the world at No. 3 overall. Hunter is the top cornerback in the draft after picking off five balls and posting an impressive 21.3% forced incompletion percentage. His double life as a receiver at Colorado will not only help him on defense but will likely result in him making contributions on offense as well at the next level.”
And being that the Giants could also use wide receiver help with veteran pass-catcher Darius Slayton entering free agency, Hunter could kill two birds with one stone.
NFL Draft Analyst Has Giants Passing on Shedeur Sanders in Order to Select Travis Hunter in New Mock
PFF isn’t the only one that thinks the Giants should target Hunter at No. 3 overall, assuming they get the chance to do so. The Athletic’s NFL draft expert Dane Brugler produced a new mock draft on January 15, and he had Big Blue passing on Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
“If the Giants are unable to move up for [Cam] Ward, would they like Shedeur Sanders enough to draft him at No. 3?” Brugler pondered. “In this scenario, they don’t and instead opt for arguably the best player in the draft.”
“Hunter would give New York an upgrade at corner — and he’d be a fun weapon for Brian Daboll to mix into the offense for the Giants’ TBD quarterback,” the draft analyst noted, similar to PFF.
But would the G-Men really pass on Sanders with all the recent hype connecting the two?
After going a different direction at No. 3, Brugler didn’t call Sanders’ name until the No. 6 overall pick. That’s where the QB-needy Las Vegas Raiders ended up in the order, and the expert predicted that they would pull the trigger on the son of NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.
As for Hunter, during a different article on December 13, Brugler described the unique talent as a player with “explosive athleticism” and “instinctive ball skills.”
“Aside from his physical ability and stamina, Hunter deserves a lot of credit for the mental commitment required to play both offense and defense,” he added. “There’s a reason why two-way players are so rare — not only do you have to be a super-athlete, but staying locked in on the mental side is taxing, as well.”
Giants Must Add Starting-Caliber QB During NFL Free Agency
Obviously, the Giants cannot pass on Sanders if their only quarterback is Tommy DeVito (who is currently an exclusive-rights free agent). That’s why NYG must add a starting-caliber signal-caller during NFL free agency.
You can always draft a third quarterback and either keep three QBs again or have DeVito start out on the practice squad, but you cannot go into the draft in desperate need of a new No. 1 passer.
With that in mind, the Giants absolutely have to either sign or trade for a veteran quarterback before April. If they do that, they will then have more options at No. 3 overall, let’s say they prefer to select a player like Hunter and worry about drafting a signal-caller in round two or three.
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