NY Giants’ Best and Worst Case Scenarios Named by CBS Sports

Depending on who you believe, the NY Giants are either going to finally get out of the cellar and back on the road to relevancy, or they will once again land in the cellar with another poor record that leads to a potential shakeup involving one or both of general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll.

In a new best- and worst-case scenario breakdown by Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports, the direction the Giants season takes revolves around the play of the quarterback.

Russell Wilson sets the stage

In Benjamin’s best-case scenario, quarterback Russell Wilson, whom Daboll has already said will be the starter, musters up just enough magic to get the Giants back to the postseason, which would allow the franchise to keep rookie Jaxson Dart on the bench where he can take his time in developing to eventually take over the starting job for the long term.

This scenario is indeed what the Giants are thought to be hoping for. While Wilson isn’t the same quarterback he was during his peak years with Seattle, he still represents a vast upgrade over what the team had at the position last year and has drawn rave reviews from his new teammates. 

“It's been awesome. His knowledge of the game has shown already,” receiver Darius Slayton said of Wilson. 

“He has amazing talent with the ball. Accuracy, great touch on the deep balls. I don't really know that he's missed more than one or two deep balls this whole camp. He is really accurate, really smart. He's helped keep us in good plays throughout the whole camp. So, his impact has been felt for sure.”

“That deep ball just drops right in the bucket, for sure,” said receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. “Whenever he's throwing just the shorter routes and stuff like that, it kind of comes in like a pillow. It's easy to catch, which I like.”

The vibe around Wilson has been positive during the OTAs, which are non-contact. Still, Wilson’s presence appears to have breathed new life into the team, something they hope carries over to training camp and into the season. 

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Is there a drawback to Wilson having a good season?

While Giants fans are hopeful that the team has a good season, Benjamin’s odd choice for the worst-case scenario is that the veteran quarterback is “solid enough to keep Dart off the field but sluggish enough to pull New York out of good 2026 draft position,” which leads to “young building blocks like Malik Nabers grow(ing) disenchanted in the drama of it all.”

Of all the worst-case scenarios, this one is so far down the list that it’s ridiculous. We’re pretty certain that the young building blocks like Nabers would happily enjoy a winning season over a losing one that puts the Giants back in the top five of the draft order.

A more realistic worst-case scenario, based on the unfortunate history of this team, would be for injuries to disrupt the carefully laid plans. What happens if, for example, left tackle Andrew Thomas misses more time? What if injury befalls Nabers, Dexter Lawrence II, or any of the key cogs in the wheel?

Such an occurrence would have a far greater impact on how the Giants’ 2025 campaign turns out. 

What makes this a scary possibility is that, despite the team's efforts to change practice schedules, workouts, or water filters, it still cannot avoid those catastrophic injuries to players who, once they are forced out of the lineup, literally change the complexion and direction of the team. 

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