Giants NFL Draft connection would make whiffing on 2025 QB prospect a dream come true

Things are ... not great with the New York Giants right now, to put it mildly. With the team finally moving on from Daniel Jones' contract and barreling toward the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it seemed like the time was finally right for a hard reset and a chance to move on from years of mismanagement and dysfunction.

That is, until a Drew Lock legacy game against the Indianapolis Colts sent New York tumbling down the draft order, eventually winding up at the No. 3 overall pick — hardly ideal in a draft with two consensus top QB prospects in Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. And to make matters even worse, John Mara made the baffling decision to hold on to GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll for one more lame-duck season. So much for a reset.

But while the prospect of handing an all-important offseason to Schoen and Daboll seems suspect (to say the least), and it sure feels like Mara has no idea which direction to take his franchise, there are still some silver linings to be found. Sure, the Giants might not be in position to find their quarterback of the future next spring; but that might be for the best, at least with how the board seems to be shaking out.

Latest mock draft suggests botched tank job could work out beautifully for the Giants

With the season over for 18 of the league's 32 teams, we've officially hit Mock Draft Season, and ESPN's Jordan Reid has obliged with a new first-round mock on Tuesday. There's still a long, long way to go until the actual draft next spring, and any predictions at this point amount to just lightly educated guesses, but Reid's prediction for Big Blue should have Giants fans feeling awfully excited.

Reid has Ward and Sanders going 1-2 to the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns, respectively, both of whom figure to be very motivated to find a quarterback this offseason. While the Giants are also in that boat, Ward and Sanders both have plenty of warts as prospects and are far from sure things. And New York not having the chance to draft either means that Reid has them selecting possibly the best player in the draft, Colorado two-way star Travis Hunter.

Hunter profiles as, at the very least, a solid starting cornerback in the NFL, something the Giants could very much use. And it's an added bonus that they're also looking for more reliable receivers to support Malik Nabers, even if it's just for 10-15 snaps a game. It's hard to imagine New York getting back to contention without a new QB, but keeping its powder dry, taking Hunter and embracing the tank for Arch Manning next season might be the best thing in the long run.