For anyone who has taken a look around the New York Giants organization this summer, one thing that has been noticed repeatedly from the players is an immeasurably higher level of confidence in their offense and what it can accomplish in the upcoming season.
The arrival of three new quarterbacks—Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Jaxson Dart—has been the primary catalyst for reinvigorating the franchise's spirit on that side of the ball. There has been an immediate dose of charisma and excitement that just seemed to be missing in the glimmer of the eyes in the locker room in 2024.
The Giants have fully bought into what Wilson, who was signed to be the starter for as long as he deserves to keep it, can do to unleash the explosive element of their system that only found explosive plays 11.1% of the time, good for the 28th-worst percentage in the entire league.
Behind him, they also know they now have a budding gunslinger in his wake in Dart, who has flashed everything he might be able to do within Brian Daboll’s system and tutelage through emphatic outings in the preseason, where he executed with crispness and poise.
Add the quarterback element to the rest of the young, talented weapons in the huddle, and it should spell a better offensive story than the 32nd-ranked unit fans were forced to watch last season when the Giants only averaged 14.6 points per contest.
Not so much in the eyes of Gennaro Felice, who gave the Giants' offensive trio a slight boost from the 2024 season, but still wasn’t bullish on their ultimate potential to accrue a large number of wins this season.
He didn’t even include Wilson as a member of the team’s triplets in the analysis, going instead with Jaxson Dart, who was paired with Tyrone Tracy Jr. in the backfield and Malik Nabers in the receiving corps.
“Yes, I’m aware Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback. No, I don’t think that will remain the case all season,” Felice said.
“Frankly, given the Giants’ brutal schedule -- which carries the highest opponent 2024 win percentage in the league -- I’ll be surprised if Jaxson Dart isn’t QB1 by Halloween. The first-round pick didn’t light the league on fire in the preseason, but he definitely showed promise.”
“And most importantly, this is a critical season for Daboll and Joe Schoen, considering owner John Mara stated that he’s “just about run out of patience” when he announced in January that the coach and general manager would be back in 2025."
"If the rookie quarterback displays competence alongside second-year pros Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Malik Nabers, the youth movement could be this regime’s lifeline to 2026 and beyond.”
As hard as the Giants will try to quiet down the noise about Dart and wanting to see him jump into the starting role sooner than the regime’s plans are calling for, they will continue to grow louder with each week, especially those where Wilson doesn’t show he’s capable of lifting the team to wins in what is the league’s most challenging schedule this year.
But again, if you kept asking the players in the locker room, they don’t sound like a bunch that thinks they’re only good enough to be the 27th-ranked unit, which is where Felice placed the Giants in his analysis based on their current aforementioned triplets.
They believe that Wilson still has miles left in his tank and an arm that can rifle the football downfield to his arsenal of targets that have been waiting for them to come their way. Players like Nabers and tight end Theo Johnson, both names that Wilson has repeatedly spoken about in terms of developing close relationships within and outside of their games.
Don’t forget that he showed it, even if it was just once, in the Giants’ preseason win over the New York Jets with that 80-yard moonball to receiver Beaux Collins that opened up the second dominant offensive affair for the blue side. He also showed an ability to march downfield, which at times was a significant problem for the Giants in recent seasons, regardless of the quarterback.
The amount of value placed into seeing that in a preseason game does matter, and of course, the Giants need to see more of that from Wilson and company each week of the regular season to be taken more seriously by their critics.
It is nice to see the Giants start to gain some positive traction in rankings like this one. After all, Wilson is still a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who has made it 14 years in the NFL for a reason. Nabers was an electric 1,000-yard receiver that shattered rookie records and looks to do more damage to the football storybooks, and Tracy is eager to show his debut wasn't just a flash in the pan.
We understand that the youth movement is driving the rebuild that the Giants organization finds itself in, but more winning will require the help of some veterans as well. Wilson deserves his fair shot before he is cast aside for Dart, and the Giants' offense more broadly deserves a little more respect, if they earn it, to not remain in the dungeons of the game's lowest talent trios.
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