How nervous are you about Jaxson Dart entering the NFC East?
The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft brought several surprises and a few upsets, including the controversial selection of Tyler Booker 12th overall to the Cowboys. While fans have mixed views on the pick, their three division rivals all added to their roster Thursday night. Here’s what each team did in the first round.
New York Giants
The Giants had a choice to make with the third overall pick: take Shedeur Sanders and find their quarterback of the future, or take the best player available and worry about quarterback later.
General manager Joe Schoen chose the latter, picking Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter. Considered by many to be the second best player in the draft, Carter is a freak athlete with strong pass rush ability. He has drawn some comparisons to Micah Parsons, and even if he’s only half of what Parsons is, this is a great pick for New York.
That wasn’t all, though. Schoen traded back into the end of the first round, giving up the 34th and 99th pick, along with a third-rounder next year, to do so. The immediate assumption was that this was the quarterback pick for the Giants, and Sanders was still available.
Schoen went quarterback, but it wasn’t Sanders. Instead, he chose Ole Miss star Jaxson Dart.
Opinions on Dart have been split, to say the least, but he offers plus athleticism and unique playmaking ability that has some seeing shades of Josh Allen, while others see a gamer who thrived only because of his college offense.
Brian Daboll confirmed Thursday night that they still plan to start Russell Wilson, seemingly taking a developmental approach with Dart. We’ll see how long that lasts, but New York appears to have found their next franchise quarterback. Or at least they hope they have.
Washington Commanders
The Commanders had a long wait for their pick, an unusual feeling for their fans. Some anticipated Washington to pursue a defender to try and shore up that side of the ball, but they chose to double-down on building around Jayden Daniels by drafting Oregon offensive tackle Josh Conerly.
A late riser in the draft, Conerly is one of the more athletic tackles in this class, though not always the most consistent. A starter at left tackle in college, Conerly is likely to be switching to either right tackle or left guard after Washington traded for Laremy Tunsil earlier this month.
Regardless of where Conerly ultimately suits up, the moves makes a lot of sense. Washington was a game away from the Super Bowl with Daniels leading the way, so investing in protection for their franchise quarterback is a good way to preserve their momentum.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles came into this draft with the 32nd pick and not many needs. By the time it ended, they had moved up one spot (for the price of a mere fifth-rounder) and landed the top linebacker in the draft in Jihaad Campbell.
Cue the GIF of Jesse Pinkman shouting “He can’t keep getting away with this!”
Howie Roseman is a master of letting the draft come to him, and he did it again Thursday night. Campbell fits the mold of an off-ball linebacker but has some pass rush juice to him too. He’s very similar in that regard to Zack Baun, who just became a star for the Eagles.
Landing a player that talented without giving up serious draft capital to get him is the kind of savvy draft maneuver that many Cowboys fans wish they could enjoy for their own team.
