byJohn Schmeelk,Dan Salomone&Matt Citak

With rookie minicamp about to begin, the Giants.com crew looks at questions for the 2025 class.

John Schmeelk:The biggest question is how Jaxson Dart progresses throughout his career, which will be determined by all sorts of factors. The most important one, of course, is how quickly he can acclimate to the offense. We might be able to sense something from the outside during training camp and preseason games when he is getting a significant number of snaps on the field, but once the season starts, we won't have any clue how he is progressing behind the scenes.

During the season, Dart is unlikely to get many snaps with the Giants' offense in practice as Russell Wilson gets the starter snaps to get ready for each week's game. He could run the practice squad, but that is running another team's offense. Dart will also be active in the meeting rooms where the Giants' offensive brain trust can see how he is handling everything mentally week to week. For the people in the building, it might be tough to determine if he is ready. From the outside looking in, it will be impossible.

There is also a matter of how the team performs, and it is important to note that Jameis Winston will factor into things. In truth, any estimation of a timetable now is a fruitless endeavor. Without knowing how Dart is seeing the game and how well the veteran quarterbacks on the roster are playing, any forecasting now would just be wild guessing.

Dan Salomone:The question was never "can" Abdul Carter fit into a defensive front that already includes Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the outside and Dexter Lawrence inside. It was a matter of "how." Essentially, you take a player of that caliber and ask questions later. "We would find a way," general manager Joe Schoen said in his pre-draft press conference.

Now that we're in a post-draft world, the question falls on the shoulders of the defensive coaches. As Brian Daboll pointed out minutes after the pick, there were "a lot of happy people" upstairs. In fact, after the Giants took their time on the clock, some outsiders wondered whether they were contemplating a trade at No. 3. It turned out they were just celebrating what immediately became one of the top defensive fronts in the league.

"We were high fiving and hugging," Schoen said. "That's what that was."

The celebration included not only defensive coordinator Shane Bowen and outside linebacker coach Charlie Bullen, but also Andre Patterson. The Giants had the longtime defensive line coach "really take a look" at Carter, too. They will work together to find out how to utilize the chess pieces on a defense that could make a big play last season but also struggled at giving it up.

Matt Citak:Since John covered Dart and the quarterback situation, I'll pivot to elsewhere in the backfield. The Giants found a steal in last year's draft with the selection of running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. in the fifth round (No. 166 overall). Tracy finished second among rookie running backs with 839 rushing yards on the season, trailing only Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving, while averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Now the question is how does this year's fourth-round pick, running back Cam Skattebo, fit into the equation?

"Today obviously we started off with Skattebo, one of our favorite players in the draft, just the way he plays, the mentality he plays with, the toughness, the competitiveness, the grit," general manager Joe Schoen said to open up his press conference after Day 3 of the draft. "Good hands out of the backfield, as well. Just a darned good football player, so we were excited to get him."

Skattebo is coming off an outstanding campaign with the Sun Devils. He set new school records with his 1,711 rushing yards and 2,316 total yards from scrimmage, and finished second in the nation in both categories (behind only Boise State's Ashton Jeanty). According to Pro Football Focus, he also ranked second in the nation behind Jeanty in missed tackles forced on runs with 102. On top of that, Skattebo became the first running back since Christian McCaffrey in 2015 to reach 1,500+ rushing yards and 500+ receiving yards in a season, all while averaging 5.8 yards per carry and scoring 24 total touchdowns.

The addition of Skattebo in the backfield now gives the Giants another talented running back capable of not only running well, but also catching the football. Of course, Tracy is only a couple of years removed from playing wide receiver in college, as he's only been playing running back full time for two full seasons now. He's joined by Skattebo, who caught 69 passes for 891 yards and four touchdowns over his two seasons at Arizona State. Additionally, Skattebo provides the Giants with a battering ram option in the run game. The rookie running back embraces contact, using his physicality to run over defenders while trying to pick up extra yards. He is a great complement to Tracy, who relies more on his elusiveness to force missed tackles. The two backs give the Giants quite a strong 1-2 punch in the run game, with each player boasting different strengths from the other, something the offense hasn't had in years.

"He plays with great contact balance. He's tough as nails," coach Brian Daboll said after drafting Skattebo. "You can use him a variety of ways. Pass game, he can catch, he can run routes, he can throw the ball, as you've seen on one of those, and he's got very good vision and quick feet. He's a 220-pound back who runs with power, toughness and has the type of personality that I think Joe did a great job of along with the scouts of bringing in guys that have a lot of toughness."

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