How Giants GM 'shifted his preference' from Shedeur Sanders to Jaxson Dart ahead of draft

Less than a full week before the New York Giants traded back into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at pick No. 25, it was reported that there was "a belief around the league that certain segments of the Giants organization" wanted Colorado signal-caller Shedeur Sanders "more than others." 

For a piece published late Monday morning, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News suggested that Giants head coach Brian Daboll had to sell general manager Joe Schoen on drafting Dart over Sanders.

"Back in December," Leonard wrote, "if the Giants had revealed a list of their Shedeur Sanders scouting touch points compared to their work on Jaxson Dart, no one would have imagined Dart as their NFL Draft target instead of Prime Time’s son. But Joe Schoen stayed open to the possibility of being convinced otherwise. The Giants GM shifted his preference to Dart this spring as head coach Brian Daboll warmed to Dart as a player and person and Schoen rounded out his own evaluation."

NFL Draft analyst and league insider Todd McShay of The Ringer reported this past Thursday that Sanders' recent visit with Daboll "did not go particularly well." McShay also said that Daboll called Sanders out for allegedly being unprepared for his meeting with the club. 

On Monday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated mentioned that Sanders didn't "catch" an install "with mistakes intentionally planted in it" that he received ahead of a team visit. 

"A coach called him on it," Breer added, "and the resulting exchange wasn’t pretty." 

It's unknown if Breer was referencing Daboll, but it's now clear that the New York coach preferred developing Dart over Sanders as a backup. Both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston are expected to receive reps over Dart during springtime and summer workouts.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns traded up to select Sanders at overall choice No. 144. 

"The GM and coach more than ever have been working as separate entities internally coming off a tense end-of-season autopsy, when there were people on the Giants’ personnel side who wouldn’t have minded seeing the coaching staff turned over to reset the clock," Leonard wrote. "Daboll unquestionably influenced the selection of Dart, however, with the two former Buffalo colleagues required to collaborate on a decision that will define both of their tenures in New York within the next year or two."

It remains to be seen if Giants co-owner John Mara will allow Daboll and Schoen to build around Dart through at least the 2026 season. In the end, Schoen trusting Daboll regarding the Dart selection could ultimately result in Mara blowing things up as soon as January of next year.