The NY Giants hold the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and the consensus seems to be that if Penn State pass-rusher Abdul Carter is there, he'll be the pick. That's because the majority of mock drafts have Cam Ward going to Tennessee with the first pick, then Travis Hunter going second overall to the Browns, and that leaves the Giants with an easy decision at three. They take Carter, right?
Well, in two of the mock drafts included for this roundup, yes, that's precisely what happens. One, however, not only has the Giants going against the grain and passing on Carter but has them making a pretty stunning pick overall. We'll start with the two mocks that have New York taking Carter.
NY Giants go in an unexpected direction in 2025 NFL mock draft roundup
NBC Sports: Abdul Carter, EDGE (Penn State)
Connor Rogers of NBC Sports was one of two draft experts to link the G-Men to the Penn State product. As expected, he had Ward going to the Titans and Hunter going to the Browns, so that makes the Giants' pick here easy, right?
"The Giants have a good edge rush duo in Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, but Carter is simply too talented to pass up here. In this scenario they could explore a Thibodeaux trade, bringing back another asset to use in this draft."
Rogers floats the idea of the Giants potentially trading Thibodeaux since they're already stacked with pass-rushers while gaining some draft capital in the process. This could be a move that makes sense for them but it would certainly be fun to see all of these talented pass-rushers on the same team (though not for their opponents).
CBS Sports: Abdul Carter, EDGE (Penn State)
Josh Edwards of CBS Sports shared the same sentiments as Rogers, also connecting the Giants to Carter. Edwards focused on the Russell Wilson signing in his quick blurb about this pick, pointing out that while he doesn't think Wilson's addition to the roster has anything to do with what New York does here, waiting until Day 2 to draft a quarterback could be the best move.
"I do not believe that the Russell Wilson signing has any impact on what the Giants will do at No. 3 overall but I could see them drafting an impact performer to improve this season's roster and waiting until Day 2 for the quarterback."
The reason we're seeing so many mocks linking the Giants and Carter together is because he's one of the best players in the draft and for them to land him at three, that'd be a massive victory for them. It'd be hard to be too upset with this pick if this is how it all played out.
Grade: A+
Yahoo! Sports: Armand Membou, OT (Missouri)
This is where the juicy stuff begins! Nate Tice and Charles McDonald of Yahoo! Sports went in a stunning direction, not only having the G-Men pass on Carter (who went the very next pick at four to the Patriots) to go with Armand Membou out of Missouri.
"Big Blue needs a lot on offense, but the Giants need to add another building block to their offensive line. They have struggled to build a quality offensive line for a few years now, but Andrew Thomas (if he can stay healthy) and the sky-high potential of Membou would give them the bookend duo they’ve been searching for."
This isn't a slight on Membou but say the Giants were to pass on Carter for an offensive tackle, wouldn't they want to go with Will Campbell instead? Campbell ends up sliding to the 11th pick in this particular mock, which feels unrealistic.
Membou is a good player and might end up being a nice pick for the Giants but passing on Carter for not even the best projected player at his position seems very risky here.
Grade: C+