The New York Giants left football analysts scratching their heads after selecting Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick, despite already signing veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston this offseason. Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt didn’t mince words, categorizing the Giants’ decision as one that “creates questions” rather than providing answers.
Klatt’s criticism stems from his belief that successful draft strategies should solve existing problems or reinforce team philosophy. Instead, New York has manufactured a quarterback controversy reminiscent of Atlanta’s 2024 predicament with Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr., potentially undermining their roster construction with what Klatt calls a “$100 million backup” scenario.
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“I think that organizations make picks in one of three lanes. Two of them are really good, one of them is not,” Klatt explained on The Rich Eisen Show. “The two good lanes are, do you provide answers, or do you double down on philosophy. The third lane is that you create questions with picks.”
Klatt didn’t hold back when comparing the Giants’ current situation to their controversial 2019 selection of Daniel Jones. “Unfortunately for New York, they don’t have a great track record that all of us can just say, ‘ well, I trust them,'” Klatt stated. “You couldn’t make Saquon Barkley work, so like what are we doing?”
The quarterback logjam presents immediate roster challenges that head coach Brian Daboll seemed reluctant to address directly. When asked about Dart’s development timeline, Daboll responded, “I’d say all that that’ll play out. Russ will be our starter, and that’s how it’ll be once we get started here in the spring.”
This ambiguous answer only reinforced Klatt’s point about creating unnecessary questions. “In that answer, ‘that’ll play out, Russ is our starter,’ which one more questions, and then he says, ‘Well, I want to make this about Jackson,’ but you didn’t because you drafted him into a situation where there’s more questions,” Klatt observed.
While the Giants’ first-round selection of Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at No. 3 overall earned Klatt’s approval as a disruptive force needed to compete in the physical NFC East, the decision to trade back into the first round for Dart overshadowed this positive move.
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The Giants’ quarterback strategy contrasts sharply with teams like Jacksonville and Chicago, which prioritized building around their young signal-callers. As Klatt concluded, “I hope it works out. I think that the NFL is better when the Giants are really relevant at the top end of the league, and I hope that they can get back to that.”
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