Joe Schoen addresses narratives about Giants drafting Jaxson Dart over Shedeur Sanders

Rumors and stories have suggested that the New York Giants were "split" about selecting Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Specifically, Giants head coach Brian Daboll reportedly "warmed to" Jaxson Dart before general manager Joe Schoen "shifted his preference to Dart" and traded back into the draft's first round to grab the Ole Miss signal-caller at pick No. 25.

During a Thursday appearance on the FanDuel TV "Up & Adams" program, Schoen insisted that an "organizational decision" resulted in the Giants drafting Dart over Sanders. 

"Any player that we take, it’s a collaborative process and it’s very detailed, and we believe in it. ...Jaxson is a guy that was on the radar throughout the fall," Schoen said, as shared by Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. "Three coaches on staff (Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney) that have been part of the development of two pretty good quarterbacks in the league right now (Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen), and when they are convicted on a player and the scouting staff is convicted on a player, typically you have the best chance for success in those situations."

Schoen and Daboll were in Buffalo when the Bills drafted Allen in 2018, while Kafka was previously Mahomes' quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs. 

It's now clear that Sanders at the very least "didn't hit it off with Giants coaches" during the predraft process. For a story posted on Thursday, ESPN's Jordan Raanan noted that "multiple coaching and front office sources in the league believe Sanders struggled during [an] early March visit when Daboll peppered the quarterback on an install given to him the night before visiting the facility." A source also told Raanan that Dart "was Daboll's quarterback of choice" heading into the draft. 

In the end, Sanders' fall to the fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to select him at No. 144 became the most-discussed story of the draft. 

"As the draft gets closer, you really start to narrow your circle and you want to eliminate outside voices," Schoen added during the interview. "My leadership group, along with a couple of the coaches, and that’s when we really started to devise a plan."

While Sanders is part of a competition to win Cleveland's Week 1 starting job, the Giants want to sit Dart behind veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston for as long as possible. Only time will tell if Schoen and Daboll eventually regret passing on Sanders.