The New York Giants underwent a lot of change in the 2025 NFL offseason, led by an exciting group of incoming rookies. With the team’s expectations as high as they have been in years, the Giants cannot settle for another subpar season in 2025.
The Giants’ rookie class is built around first-rounders Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart, but the team is excited about all seven players taken in the 2025 NFL Draft. Cam Skattebo, Marcus Mbow and Darius Alexander have all generated their own amount of hype early in the offseason. Nothing is guaranteed until the season begins, but Joe Schoen appears to have orchestrated another stellar draft class.
In addition to the incoming rookies, the Giants also reeled in an impressive crop of talent in free agency. Schoen dug deep into his pockets to sign Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo, arguably the two best defensive backs on the market. To the surprise of most, New York obtained most of the top targets in a class that lacked big-name free agents.
Given the talent joining the team, the Giants will look much different when they return in the fall than they did in 2024. Considering they went just 3-14 a year ago, most fans would find that to be a good team. But for many returning veterans on the roster, the 2025 NFL offseason will be the toughest of their careers to date.
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux
Still just four years into his career, Kayvon Thibodeaux is in an interesting position. Many assumed he would be the biggest loser of the Giants drafting Carter, but the team responded by picking up his fifth-year option. The move shut down trade speculation, but the looming positional battle still exists.
While Thibodeaux, a 2022 first-round pick, is still just 24, he is suddenly in danger of losing his job in the offseason. The Giants took Carter as the best player available, regardless of fit. Carter is the type of player who would impact any defense, and just happened to join the team at an awkward time for Thibodeaux.
Under Shane Bowen, the Giants’ 3-4 defense certainly has room for multiple edge-rushers. But Thibodeaux, who started 12 games at outside linebacker in 2024, does not have the versatility to play on the inside. Brian Burns and Carter do, but they are both best on the outside and are seemingly more efficient in that role than Thibodeaux is.
While the Giants confirmed their commitment to Thibodeaux in the 2025 offseason, a lot is still up in the air. When speaking on his trio of Burns, Carter and Thibodeaux, Brian Daboll said he loved seeing the internal competition. Daboll continues to insist that Carter is not a direct threat to Thibodeaux’s role, but everything could change once the season begins.
Fans have loved criticizing Thibodeaux since the star pass-rusher entered the league. After notching 11.5 sacks in 2023, he managed just 5.5 in 2024, causing fans to jump at his throat. But while he might not be an elite edge-rusher just yet, Thibodeaux accrued 20 pressures in 12 games in 2024, a top-20 pressure rate. The book is still out on him, but he needs to show meaningful improvements in the offseason or risk losing snaps to Carter.
RB Devin Singletary
When the Giants drafted fan-favorite running back Cam Skattebo in the fourth round, everyone assumed he would be an immediate threat to Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s role as the lead back. But given Skattebo’s niche as a bruising, between-the-tackles runner, he is more of an ideal complement to the elusive Tracy. Skattebo’s presence instead threatens Devin Singletary as New York’s change-of-pace option.
The Giants signed Singletary in the 2024 offseason as a bridge running back of sorts after letting Saquon Barkley walk in free agency. Singletary played for Daboll and Schoen with the Buffalo Bills, making him an ideal veteran to lead an otherwise young group. However, while he got off to a strong start, a groin injury threw his season off track, and he never recovered.
Singlerary only missed two games with the injury, but it opened the door for Tracy, who firmly grasped the starting role and never looked back. Singletary returned to a backup role and did not see more than eight carries in a single game the rest of the way. By the end of the year, he finished with a career-low 437 rushing yards on a dreadful 3.9 yards per carry.
Singletary was not as bad as the numbers suggest; he was rather unfit for the role asked of him. After the Giants settled on Tracy as the No. 1 option, Singletary became the primary short-yardage back. As good as Tracy was as a rookie, the converted receiver lacks the frame and lower-body strength to be effective in the trenches. The 5-foot-7 Singletary is not much of a bruiser himself, but found himself working in that role for most of the year.
Neither Tracy nor Singletary thrives between the tackles, but Skattebo fits that role to a tee. Everything about the former FCS star gives off that energy, and his enthusiasm in that position is highly contagious. Skattebo should have no issues becoming the Giants’ top short-yardage rusher, pushing Singletary even further down the depth chart. Singletary is a Brian Daboll favorite, but New York found the perfect complement to Tracy in the draft at his direct expense.
DEs Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Roy Robertson-Harris
Before their season fell off the rails, the Giants boasted arguably the best defensive line in 2024. New York led the league in sacks six weeks into the season before injuries shredded them apart. Regardless, the team revamped its defense in the offseason, adding more than just Carter.
As the team’s top pick, Carter rightfully has most of the attention of the Giants’ 2025 rookie class. However, New York also added Toledo alum Darius Alexander in the third round, an intriguing and overlooked addition. An injury has kept Alexander out of OTAs and prevented him from making any early noise, but he will quickly become a name to monitor once he returns to the field.
In his final two seasons at Toledo, Alexander racked up 76 tackles, 7.5 sacks and seven batted passes as an interior lineman. He even managed an interception in his final game as a Rocket, returning it 58 yards to the house. Alexander is uniquely athletic, powerful and mobile for a nose tackle, resembling everything the Giants want out of a player in that position.
The Giants’ interior is already anchored by Dexter Lawrence II, arguably the best defensive tackle in the league. However, Bowen’s 3-4 scheme requires multiple bodies in the middle. That area of the team was one of its weak spots in 2024, as neither Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Elijah Chatman or D.J. Davidson made much of an impact. All three return in 2025, along with free agent signings Roy Robertson-Harris and Chauncey Golston.
Without Alexander, Nunez-Roches and Robertson-Harris appear to be the starters early on. But once Alexander takes the field, both will be pushed by the rookie. The Giants are also teasing playing Carter on the inside, potentially putting both on their heels. In any case, Alexander is going to be a force. Nunez-Roches and Robertson-Harris need to show a lot in the 2025 offseason to avoid becoming placeholders.
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