For most of the pre-draft process, the general belief was that the New York Giants were sold on Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. However, as the 2025 NFL Draft nears, some now feel that the team is more interested in Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart.

While the Giants are still interested in Sanders, the “buzz” in New York is that the team is beginning to favor Dart as their preferred quarterback, according to ESPN's Peter Schrager. The NFL analyst pointed out that while the entire narrative has been on Sanders, general manager Joe Schoen has done the same amount of scouting work on both prospects.

“There's some buzz here in New York about Jaxson Dart being the preferred quarterback to Shedeur Sanders in the Giants' organization,” Schrager said on ESPN's ‘Get Up.' “I would say this — if the Giants were to trade back and take Dart over Sanders, understand they have done their work on Dart, too… Take a look at these stats here — they've done as much work in the building at Ole Miss as they have with Shedeur Sanders [at Colorado].”

Unless the Giants take a massive shot on Dart at No. 3, they would likely look to trade back in the draft to take him later in the first round. Several teams, including the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, have reportedly been looking to move up.

Schrager further pointed out the connections the Giants have to Ole Miss, potentially making Dart even more of an attraction.

“Furthermore, Joe Schoen has a kid at Ole Miss,” Schrager said. “So he's been there and around that program plenty. Eli Manning has the Ole Miss connection. Do you know who's an analyst at Ole Miss right now? [Former head coach] Joe Judge is an analyst at Ole Miss.”

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Giants' interest in Shedeur Sanders seemingly waning

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As the Giants' interest in Dart increases, their intrigue in the Ole Miss quarterback has seemingly outweighed their affinity for Sanders. As such, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are not scheduled to make a selection until No. 21, are the current favorites to take Sanders in the draft, according to Kay Adams.

The Steelers are one of the few teams remaining that are still without a starting quarterback. They continue to be in the mix for 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, but the veteran's ongoing retirement contemplation has them in limbo. Unless Pittsburgh makes a substantial leap up in the draft, the oddsmakers believe Sanders is in for a sizeable drop.

For most of the draft process, Sanders was projected to land at No. 9 to the New Orleans Saints, who deal with concerning injuries to Derek Carr. Sportsbooks now appear to have as much information about Sanders' landing spot as the public does.