Will drafting Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart be another date with destiny for Giants?
Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, right, celebrates with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen by the New York Giants with the third overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. Credit: AP/Jeff Roberson
There are some draft dates that have immediately and explicitly changed the course of the Giants’ franchise for the better.
On April 28, 1981, the team used the second overall pick to select Lawrence Taylor. It yielded two Super Bowl titles.
On April 24, 2004, they engineered a trade for Eli Manning. Two more Super Bowls.
So where will April 24, 2025, stand in history?
If Abdul Carter, the linebacker from Penn State they selected with the third overall pick on Thursday night, and Jaxson Dart, the quarterback they traded up to select at 25, both live up to the potential many see in them, it could become a combination of the two and etched as yet another pivot point for an organization that has routinely resurrected itself with these springtime decisions.
“There is no limit to what I can be,” Carter said after his selection. “I’m just getting started.”
The Giants were too. They jumped back into the first round, trading with the Texans to take Dart as the second quarterback off the board.
Just as in 1981, the Giants needed a little bit of luck and timing to land their guy. Back then they needed Taylor to fall to them and it happened when the Saints selected running back George Rogers. This time it was the Titans taking Cam Ward first overall and some tense moments when the Browns traded the second overall pick to the Jaguars. They opted for Heisman Trophy-winner Travis Hunter there and it left Carter to land in New York’s lap.
The Giants did wait a little while before handing in the card. Cold feet? Fielding trade calls? Not at all.
“We were high-fiving and hugging,” general manager Joe Schoen said. “We took about five minutes hanging out and enjoying the moment… Throughout the process it became an easy decision.”
And just as in 2004 they needed to facilitate a trade to find a possible franchise quarterback from Ole Miss. Schoen said both Eli and Archie Manning are “big, big fans” of Dart… even though Dart broke many of Eli’s records.
“The family, they’re obviously Ole Miss through and through and followed him and watched a lot of his games,” Schoen said.
“It’s wild to think about,” Dart said of following Eli Manning to New York. He added that Archie had sent him a good luck text earlier on Thursday and said he “couldn’t ask for a better resource” than Eli.
“I’ll continue to lean on them and I couldn’t be more blessed to have them in my corner,” he said.
It was Daboll, though, that really impressed Dart the most about the Giants. They exchanged numerous texts during the predraft process (although those began to cool off in recent weeks) and Dart said he loved the part Daboll played in the development of Josh Allen in Buffalo.
“It was a super-easy connection from a personality standpoint,” Dart said. “His competitive edge fits with how I approach everything… This is the coach I want to be coached by, no doubt.”
Dart, the youngest quarterback in this draft, will be afforded time to learn the NFL ropes behind veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston who were signed this offseason. He may even sit all season. Eventually, though, the Giants believe he can take over the position.
“The process of developing a quarterback is just that,” Daboll said. “He’s got a lot to learn.”
Dart’s impact will require some patience. Carter’s should be more immediate.
With the Giants having to face Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels and Dak Prescott within their own division, and with quarterbacks such as Mahomes, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert and Jordan Love dotting their upcoming schedule, Carter could become the great equalizer in those games for a team that certainly won’t be able to match them passer-to-passer.
Carter is just the third defensive player to be selected by the Giants in the top three picks in the common draft era, joining Taylor and Carl Banks in 1984. Those are comparisons he won’t shy away from. During his visit to the team’s facility earlier this month Carter posted just one image to his social media accounts to announce his presence. It wasn’t a selfie, it was an LT. A picture of ol’ 56 from the wall near the outside linebackers’ meeting room.
“LT is the GOAT, somebody I look up to and study,” Carter said on Thursday. “Watching him, his intensity, how he thinks, how dominant he was… that’s what I aspire to be.”
Now, with both a quarterback and a quarterback-slayer on their roster, greatness is once again something the Giants can aspire for as well.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
