NFL Draft 2025: Giants boost chances of landing No. 1 pick (and maybe Shedeur Sanders) with loss at Cowboys

The Giants’ Thanksgiving loss in Dallas — their seventh straight — dropped them to 2-10.
It also boosted their chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
And that would obviously let them select their preferred new quarterback — whether that’s Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward or somebody else.
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It’s still unclear if the third-year regime of general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll will survive this disastrous season — in order to pick and mold that next quarterback.
But for now, this much is clear: Technically (at least until Friday), the Giants have the No. 1 pick all to themselves. They’re ahead of the Jaguars and Raiders, who sit at second and third.
That’s because the Giants are the NFL’s only 2-10 team. (Which could change in the coming days.)
It’s also worth paying attention to the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. The Giants’ strength of schedule is .534. That’s better than the Jaguars (.495) and Raiders (.532). If teams have the same record, the team with the lower strength of schedule wins the tiebreaker.
Heading into Thanksgiving, the 2-9 Giants were effectively tied for the No. 1 pick with the 2-9 Jaguars and 2-9 Raiders. Those were (and are) the NFL’s only remaining two-win teams.
But the top three (before Thursday) went Jaguars, Giants, and Raiders — because of the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker. The Jaguars host the 7-5 Texans on Sunday. The Raiders visit the 10-1 Chiefs on Friday. So it would not be a surprise if both Jacksonville and Las Vegas lost this week.
The Giants have had the No. 1 overall pick twice — 1951 (when they selected running back/wide receiver Kyle Rote) and 1965 (running back Tucker Frederickson). Rote wound up in the Giants’ Ring of Honor. A knee injury ended Frederickson’s career after seven seasons.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at [email protected].