For months leading up to the 2025 NFL draft, experts, analysts, and oddsmakers believed the New York Giants would select Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders at No. 3 overall.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

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In the late stages of the pre-draft process, it became clear the Giants would not target Sanders in the first round and potentially, not at all.

True to those expectations, the Giants selected Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at No. 3 overall before trading back into the first round to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Sanders, once projected to be a top-3 pick, fell to the Cleveland Browns in Round 5 at No. 144 overall.

Following the unprecedented slide, NFL insider Todd McShay reported that Giants head coach Brian Daboll had a negative experience with Sanders during one of their private pre-draft meetings.

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“Shedeur didn’t have a great interview with Brian Daboll in a private visit,” McShay said. “An install package came in. Preparation wasn’t there for it. [He] got called out on it. Didn’t like that. Brian didn’t appreciate him not liking it.”

Not only did Sanders not like it, he was reportedly “pissed” at the Giants and Daboll.

“The Giants one, they give players an install, and there are mistakes intentionally put in the install,” Albert Breer said, via 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He didn’t catch them and got called on it, and it didn’t go well after that. … He was pissed that they did that to him.”

Apparently, Sanders felt that was beneath him but it’s a common tactic employed by the Giants.

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Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that the Giants are notoriously difficult on quarterbacks during their private meetings, and that is not exclusive to prospects and rookies.

But quarterbacks disliking their private visits to the Giants isn’t uncommon, a league source told cleveland.com. For starters, their system isn’t quarterback-friendly from a verbiage standpoint, and they’re extremely hard on QBs — both rookies and veterans — in these private sessions to see what they can handle. Sanders isn’t the first quarterback to come away from a visit there dismayed.

Quarterback is a pressure-packed position in the NFL, so there’s little reason for the Giants and Daboll to go soft on them in private meetings. If they can’t handle tricky installs and then get angry over missing an error, it’s a poor indicator of what could come on the field.

The Giants aren’t alone in using this tactic but are, apparently, more of a stickler than most. Sanders couldn’t handle it and now he’s in Cleveland.

Dart, on the other hand, must have handled it just fine.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants known to be ‘extremely hard on QBs’ in private sessions