Giants GM Joe Schoen details what he likes about QB prospect Shedeur Sanders

New York Times

28-01-2025

MOBILE, Ala. — The New York Giants coaching and front-office staffs have been on the road this past week, checking out the college all-star games. And there's no buzz like that of coach Brian Daboll chatting with a top prospect.
Over the weekend, videos of Daboll and other Giants brass talking to projected first-round pick Shedeur Sanders spread across social media. The Colorado quarterback was in attendance at the East-West Shrine Bowl. He did not throw or participate, but he met with teams, including the Giants. Though the Giants were out scouting prospects this fall, this was the first time this offseason to talk football with them, learning a bit more about their background, injuries and more, Giants general manager Joe Schoen said.
Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders catches up with the New York Giants brass at the Shrine Bowl. The NYG contingent included HC Brian Daboll, GM Joe Schoen and assistant GM Brandon Brown. pic.twitter.com/pgaq61nnTB
— Garrett Podell (@garrettpodell) January 25, 2025
'He's a great kid,' Schoen said Tuesday while in Mobile for the Senior Bowl. 'He's a great kid. Really good personality. Football smart. Dad's a football coach. It's a little bit cliche, but he checks all the boxes of (having) a dad that's a football coach and the passion that he approaches the game with. It was good getting the meeting. He's had a really good career in Colorado and, obviously, look forward to getting to know all those guys the rest of the process.'
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The 'getting to know you' process with prospects will continue over the next week at the Senior Bowl. But Giants brass will have the benefit of plenty of eyes on prospects thanks to multiple coaches on the Shrine and Senior Bowl staffs. In Mobile, assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is serving as the head coach for the National Team. Giants running backs coach Joel Thomas, assistant secondary coach Mike Adams and offensive assistant Angela Baker are also serving as various coaches and coordinators this week in Mobile.
Throughout Schoen's tenure in New York and his previous stop as an assistant GM for the Buffalo Bills, the Senior Bowl has served as a valuable touchpoint in the scouting process. The Senior Bowl uses a 'Coach Up' format, which elevates coaches and coordinators into different roles. GMs and head coaches of all non-playoff teams and teams eliminated in the wild-card round had the chance to nominate members of their staff. Schoen is on this year's selection committee that assists with picking some of the coaches at all-star games.
'We're fortunate not everybody wants to do it,' Schoen said. 'So if you nominate coaches and there's four available, and only four coaches get nominated, your coaches are able to get positions. … To me, it's a competitive advantage. They're in the meetings with these kids. They get to know who's on time, who's late, who's early, who can learn the playbook. To me, it's just a competitive advantage for us, and I'm fortunate that our coaches are willing to participate in the process and they're all in on it.'
Though the Giants and Bills have drafted Senior Bowl prospects, Schoen cited the last four members of this past NFL Draft class who attended the Senior Bowl or Shrine Bowl while New York staff was coaching.
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'A lot of that was based on the feedback that our coaches brought back from the game,' Schoen said.
That's taking on increased importance this offseason with the Giants holding the No. 3 pick and no starting quarterback on the team. Though free agency will play a role in the quarterback position filling out, all eyes are on how the Giants will utilize the draft to fill the position. The meetings at the Senior Bowl will help start to inform that search.
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There, four teams are in each room as they rotate quarterbacks, so each room gets each prospect for 30 minutes. Giants quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney is in Mobile, and there's a whiteboard in the room with them.
'You can have them draw stuff,' Schoen said. 'You can watch film with them. So, really good opportunity to get an initial baseline of their football intelligence, what they've been taught, protection ability.'
The Giants are alongside the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Bills.
'Three teams that we've got really good relationships with,' Schoen said. 'Similar process in how we go about things. Thorough in the way we approach the quarterback evaluation. So, it was a good marriage and the communication amongst the three other teams and how we were going to approach it. Very organized in how we were going to approach the meetings.'
Seven quarterbacks are in Mobile: Alabama's Jalen Milroe, Notre Dame's Riley Leonard, Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart, Memphis' Seth Henigan, Louisville's Tyler Shough, Wilfrid Laurier's Taylor Elgersma and Oregon's Dillon Gabriel.
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One name notably missing from early meetings is Miami's Cam Ward, who along with Sanders is considered one of the top QB prospects in the draft. The Giants will instead meet with him at the NFL Scouting Combine.
And though all eyes are on the QB with the Giants' No. 3 selection, Schoen knows the team is in a good position regardless.
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'We're in a good position if sitting at 3 with the players that are available,' Schoen said. 'By process of elimination, we know we're gonna get a good player regardless of what happens in the next couple of months. We know there's gonna be a really good player there.'
A lingering NFL head coach opening is hanging over the Senior Bowl, and the Giants are awaiting the news. That's the Saints job, which Kafka has interviewed for twice, even flying down to New Orleans for an in-person interview.
Kafka was an NFL backup quarterback before transitioning to coaching. He joined Daboll's staff in 2022, coming from the Kansas City Chiefs and the Andy Reid coaching tree. In New York, he assumed the play-caller role in his first season, but Daboll took the job back full-time this past season.
'Very detailed, organized, smart coach. Good leadership ability,' Schoen said of Kafka's coaching ability. 'So, selfishly, I hope he doesn't get the New Orleans job. But if he does, he's well deserving. But a good coach, a lot of good ideas, smart, good leadership. So fortunate to have him on our staff.'
Kafka earned interviews in the last three coaching cycles, earning buzz especially after his first season in New York ended in a divisional-round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The buzz has carried on even as the Giants have combined to go 9-25 the last two years.
'There's a reason these teams continue to interview him for head-coaching jobs,' Schoen said. 'He's got a great reputation not only in our building but around the league.'
While Kafka is coaching, he said his agent and family are keeping him abreast of news so he can stay focused on the practices. Kafka called the New Orleans interviews 'a great experience.'
'I think the most important thing is, when you go into those interviews, you're just yourself, right?' Kafka said. 'You present your plan with confidence. You go through as many details as you possibly can and really give them a good perspective of how you would handle things.'
(Photo of Joe Schoen: Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)