Andy BackstromContributing writerTue, December 2, 2025 at 10:49 PM UTC·8 min readThe New York Giants dropped to 2-11 Monday night in Foxborough. Their top pick in this year's draft, edge Abdul Carter, was benched for the second time this season and for the entirety of the first quarter in a 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots, reportedly due to tardiness. The Giants' second 2025 first-round pick, quarterback Jaxson Dart, found himself once again answering postgame questions about the violent hits he keeps taking, this time in his return from a concussion.
On Tuesday, general manager Joe Schoen fielded questions about both of those rookies and about a whole lot more as his team stares down the worst win percentage in the NFC this season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Giants were the first team eliminated from playoff contention. They've been led by interim head coach Mike Kafka since Brian Daboll was fired 10 games in.
Schoen, like Daboll, was hired ahead of the 2022 campaign. That season culminated in a playoff win. The next three seasons have resulted in a combined 11-36 record.
"My hand's in it, just like Brian's is, and ownership made a decision to move on," Schoen said. "Again, I'm going to control what I can control, and that's support Kafka moving forward. I wish Dabs nothing but the best. We're going to do everything we can to get this franchise back to where it should be."
At the moment, it couldn't be further away.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We're at two wins. We're not there," Schoen told reporters, when asked how close the Giants are to truly competing. "We got to do better. I mean, that is what it is. We're at two wins."
Schoen says Dart was his pick, too: 'It was an organizational decision'
Dart was the silver lining of a sorry September for a Giants team that started 0-3 with veteran Russell Wilson quarterbacking out of the gates.
Dart and his dual-threat talent jolted New York, as the 22-year-old guided the Giants to a win over the Los Angeles Chargers in his first NFL start. While Daboll held off on crowning Dart from the get-go, it always felt like a matter of when, not if, Dart would get the nod this season. Dart was clearly his guy.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe question was, did Schoen feel the same way about the No. 25 overall pick? And that question was partly fueled by a draft day war room video that circulated on social media:
"There's hundreds of conversations leading up to that conversation in the draft room, starting when we met with Jaxson at the Senior Bowl," Schoen said Tuesday.
Schoen expressed how early his scouting department was in on Dart. He said Dart was on their radar "before Dabs was even aware of him" because Daboll was still coaching during the 2024 season when the Giants were already doing their research on the Ole Miss signal-caller.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSchoen also referenced New York scheduling a top-30 visit with Dart in January.
"Anytime you're going to make a decision on a first-round quarterback, that's going to be an organizational decision," he said. "And it was an organizational decision. Credit to my staff that did a phenomenal job gathering information, understanding the landscape of the draft that we could get Abdul at three, and then [determining] when's the reentry point into the first round where we could still get a quarterback."
Schoen emphasized that everyone in the organization was "on board" with the decision to pick Dart.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We didn't have to sell the farm to go up and get the quarterback," he said. "We were able to get him where we were. It looks like that pick's going to pay off."
Dart has had ups and downs in Year 1. But, along with rookie running back Cam Skattebo, he's helped rejuvenate a Giants fan base with head-turning playmaking and an abundance of youthful passion.
Schoen admits defense isn't where he thought it'd be at this point
There are reasons to be optimistic about the future of the Giants' offense. Schoen ran through those reasons as if they were part of a script to woo a potential coach.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNew York is hanging its hat on a promising young quarterback who's on a rookie contract, a star wide receiver in Malik Nabers, who, upon return, should be among the best in the NFL, an exciting backfield that's spearheaded by Skattebo, a burgeoning tight end in Theo Johnson and foundational pieces on the offensive line.
The Giants went from second-to-last in the NFL in points per game (16.1) and third-to-last in yards per play (4.7) last season to ranking 23rd (21.5 points per game) and tied for 17th (5.3 yards per play) in those categories this time around.
Defensively, however, there aren't many signs of encouragement, despite Schoen and the Giants investing heavily on that side of the ball.
In 2024, New York allowed 24.4 points per game. In 2025, the Giants are giving up 28.2 points per game, clocking in at 30th in the NFL in scoring defense — and that's after adding Carter, cornerback Paulson Adebo, safety Jevon Holland, linebacker Chauncey Golston and defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris this offseason.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"To say I expected that, no, but, again, it starts with me," Schoen said of the Giants' continued defensive struggles. "We've got to do a better job. I didn't anticipate we would still be 30th in the league in defense at this point with the addition of those players. But we are, and we've got to do a better job of execution. We've got to do a better job of finishing games.
"And I've got to do a better job with the personnel."
But Schoen believes the pieces are in place for whoever takes over as next head coach
Talking to reporters Tuesday, Schoen repeatedly turned to his roster's strengths, almost position-by-position, highlighting individual standouts on both offense and defense.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe key is turning all that talent into wins, and that will be the job of the next head coach, although Schoen isn't absolving himself of the blame for this season's disappointments.
"We've got to come together collectively as a group, and there's 11 guys on the field that need to be doing the same thing," he said. "They need to be on the same page. And unfortunately we haven't been able to do that. Again, that starts with me, and that's what we got to figure out. It's not just talent.
"You all got to be on the same page, and everybody's got to be rolling in the same direction and doing their jobs, and that's what we're tasked with. That's part of what we need to figure out moving forward is how to get these pieces to be on the same page and execute at a high level so we can win consistently."
When pressed about the roster's weak links and his own mistakes, however, Schoen owned that he's been far from perfect.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhat comes to mind first is Schoen letting franchise stalwart and superstar running back Saquon Barkley walk in free agency, where he signed with the division rival Philadelphia Eagles before turning in the ninth-ever 2,000-plus-yard rushing season and winning a Super Bowl. A decision to extend Daniel Jones in 2023 came back to haunt Schoen as well, in part because of a poor infrastructure surrounding the former first-round quarterback.
"Nobody's perfect, and the chances of me batting 1.000 are gone because I've made mistakes. Everybody's going to make mistakes," Schoen said.
"We're going to get some things right. As long as you're learning from those mistakes and you reflect on the process in place and where you went wrong and you can continue to get better, that's what's most important. I'm better today than I was four years ago when I got this job, and a year from now, God willing I'm standing here, I'm going to be better than I am today. And that's all I can do. ..."
Schoen added: "... Have I screwed up? Have I made mistakes? Absolutely. But I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. We're going to continue to get better, and we're going to look at everything, everything. Coaching, coordinators .... I mean every single thing, every part of the organization. And we're going to do everything we can to get this thing going in the right direction."
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