Giants draft grades: Was Darius Alexander the right pick for Shane Bowen’s defense?

Two days of the 2025 NFL Draft are now in the books.

And the Giants have made three picks — two in Round 1 on Thursday night and one in Round 3 on Friday night.

They took Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander with the first pick of that round (65th overall).

So let’s grade the pick:

Analysis: The Giants badly needed to upgrade their awful run defense and find a long-term solution at the tackle spot next to Dexter Lawrence. Is Alexander that solution? It would be foolish to say he absolutely is. But you can’t fault Joe Schoen for addressing a glaring need with the best interior defensive lineman on the board at No. 65.

Alexander turns 25 in August, so he’s not a young prospect. And yes, the Giants still need to figure out some answers at right guard, where they surely cannot completely depend on Greg Van Roten. But the Jaxson Dart trade-up move Thursday left Schoen without one of his two third-round picks (No. 99). So he did what he could at No. 65 with Alexander.

The pick certainly makes sense, especially given how brutal the Giants’ run defense was last season — and the obvious reality that Rakeem Nunez-Roches (who turns 32 in July) hasn’t played well through two seasons with the Giants. (He is entering the final year of his contract.)

No, Alexander isn’t a splashy pick like edge rusher Abdul Carter, a sure-thing immediate starter whom the Giants selected third overall Thursday. But Alexander could wind up being an important pick in 2025, as defensive coordinator Shane Bowen tries to finally stop the run.

Grade: B+

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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.