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NY Giants QB Russell Wilson Among League's Best in This Key Passing Metric

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 1:16 PM ET

The New York Giants are set to embark on a journey that will cross paths with some of the NFL's most potent offenses during the 2025 season, and there are often two factors that distinguish the best schemes from the rest of the pack.

Those elements are getting the ball out of the quarterback's hands with quick intentions and placing it into those of his talented targets, who can thrive in making big things happen in open space. The Giants, in their new pairing with projected starting quarterback Russell Wilson, could have the best of both worlds in that regard.

That idea is because, according to a new analysis by Mason Cameron over at Pro Football Focus, Wilson placed high among the league's elite signal callers in fastest release time last season. He finished second with a strong 92.4 passing grade on plays where he took less than 2.5 seconds to throw the ball (min. 100 snaps), which trailed only Cincinnati's Joe Burrow in that category.

"Despite missing time early in the year, Russell Wilson looked like his vintage self during his lone season in Pittsburgh, delivering one of the cleanest deep balls in the league with consistency," Cameron said.

"His 8.5% big-time throw rate on passes under 2.5 seconds led all passers by a wide margin, as did his 78.6% rate of accurately delivered passes."

Even with the shortened stretch for Wilson, who appeared in just 11 games for the Steelers after sustaining a calf injury in training camp, the 37-year-old quarterback still produced a valiant resume in a year that saw 10 wins and a postseason berth, tallying 214 completions for 2,482 yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions that sat right in the middle of the position standings at the year's end.

And we know what one is likely thinking when they read those numbers outlined in Cameron's analysis: it either meant that Wilson's protection was mediocre or the scheme he was forced to play in Pittsburgh was limiting him to being a checkdown king which goes against the trend of the Giants to distance themselves from this season.

To their surprise, neither could have been further from the truth. The Steelers offensive line ranked 13th in pass block win rate with an impressive 62% efficiency in the trenches last season, a broad jump above the 26th placement that New York found itself in after another injury-riddled campaign up front.

A glance at Wilson's passing chart would also reveal that his production showed no bounds at any level of the field under those circumstances. He found his arsenal of receivers at all four regions from the line of scrimmage to the deep game and was extremely accurate with an adjusted completion percentage as high as 85.3% and a higher number of passing touchdowns the further he threaded the pigskin.

While the Giants might be used to short time windows being a negative for their offense in recent seasons, it might just be the part of Wilson's skillset that helps them best reach the echelon they hope to get to in 2025, granted the same set of factors he enjoyed in Pittsburgh hold firm in East Rutherford.

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Can the Giants' Offense Be Explosive with Wilson’s Quick Passing?

The answer to this question is simple: they sure can. The Giants brought in Wilson this offseason to provide the team with a proven professional who is capable of elevating the rest of the huddle and making it shine with his unique leadership style and confidence throwing the football.

At the same time, general manager Joe Schoen has already done some preliminary work to ensure that his new starting quarterback has those pieces around him that he can quickly feel comfortable playing with on Sundays.

Wilson arrived in the Big Apple with an array of gifted receivers whose speed, niftiness, and athleticism can create yardage in bunches, but he needed that battle-tested arm to look for them and not shy away from the play under pressure.

Malik Nabers, the Giants' budding offensive phenom, stands at the forefront of the receiving weapons and is one who built his rookie stat sheet upon eating up short routes and turning them into chunk plays up the field.

His display of the first two aforementioned traits will meet Wilson's quick throwing prowess perfectly if the Giants want to attack defenses early on a mix of slant and comeback routes that build off solid separation in zone coverage.

With Wilson's strength in his legendary moonballs, which made up as much as 14% of his attempts last season, the Giants are bound to test the vertical hashmarks as well, and that is where guys like Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt should come into the picture, the latter needing a breakout season to salvage his career with the franchise.

And let's not forget the Giants have at least two running backs who don't shy away from contributing to the passing game either.

The lead back, Tyrone Tracy, possesses the speed and shiftiness from his former receiver background, as well as his outside zone rushing abilities, to catch quick throws and turn upfield. Cam Skattebo, the rookie fourth-round pick, will do much of the same with power to convert drives that seemed like long shots at the point of the catch.

Of course, the Giants will not be just a passing operation, and the reliance on the offensive line to step up and prevent Wilson from being sacked 48 times, as last year's crew of gunslingers was, will be critical.

Suppose the protection remains solid like it did before injuries reared their head in the middle of the season. In that case, Wilson will have all the time he needs to execute his confident, aggressive style of offense that flashed in Pittsburgh in 2024, and that time isn't much more than a few seconds.

Nor should the Giants want their veteran quarterback to be holding onto the football that long. They've seen what happens when you don't have an incredibly mobile arm or one that falters under added duress in the pocket, like when Daniel Jones was in command. That type of performance is the exact opposite of the style that will most guarantee they excel as an explosive unit this season.