NY Giants Week 5 Offensive Player Review: Too Many Shortcomings to Overcome

⏹ Jaxson Dart 

In a season dedicated to the development of this rookie quarterback, the more that Dart sees and experiences, the better he should become.  This week, he saw a lot of early good, and then he experienced a lot of late bad.  

Early on, the game plan caught the Saints by surprise, as Dart utilized both tight ends in the passing game and looked sharp and decisive while leading the offense on twin 8-play scoring drives.  

Of note, on the second scoring drive, Dart scrambled for his longest run of the day, 20 yards.  If we’re talking positives here, Dart’s legs produced an effective 55 yards on seven carries.  

Every one of his scrambles was a good decision; he even slid on two of them and lowered his head on two others to get first downs.  He did not absorb a single heavy hit while scrambling.  

Things started to go wrong with Dart on his next possession, which resulted in a punt; the lowlight of this drive was a deep ball that hit Darius Slayton in the hands, which he dropped.  

The next possession was derailed by Dart himself when, on a 3rd-and-2 flea flicker, he failed to get his legs into his throw, the ball hung up there, and it was knocked away when Slayton failed to come back and fight for the ball.  

On the Giants’ final possession of the first half, Dart had the offense in Saints territory and on the move, finding Slayton in the middle for a 9-yard gain.  Alas, Slayton fumbled while somehow breaking a tackle.  

On Dart’s first third-quarter possession, he once again had his offense on the move when he broke the pocket on a 1st-and-10, was surprised by two defenders while attempting to scramble, and carelessly dropped the ball without being touched for the turnover at midfield.  

This was one of Dart’s few bad decisions on the day.  He was outside the pocket and could have easily thrown the ball away.  Hopefully, he’ll learn from this very bad play. (By the way, this play was ruled a sack, the only Saints sack of the day.)  

It was still a 5-point game as the fourth quarter began with Dart on the move once again.  On the 12th play of a drive, at the NO12, Cam Skattebo fumbled, and the Saints returned it and went 86 yards for the back-breaking play of the day.  

Dart threw two INTs late, neither one truly on him.  On a fourth down, he threw one up deep while trying to make a desperation play, and Beaux Collins stopped running his route on the other INT.  

Dart’s throwing numbers were a step up from last week – 26-of-40 for 202 yards, two touchdowns, 2 INTs – but the game result, of course, was a negative.  

Most of his scrambles were the result of his being unable to find a receiver, as NFL pass defenses are throwing the kitchen sink at him.  He’s learning on the run, as it were, as he hurt the Saints with his legs all day long, but he’s gotta get better with those post-snap reads.  

For the second week in a row, he was rocked by a free-running blindside hit.  Neither one was on him, but for a guy with such excellent pocket awareness, he’s got to sense it when things break down; it’s hard to remember that this is still a rookie out there, and he’s going to miss things.  

The toughest stat of the day was this offense turning the ball over on five consecutive possessions.  That’s a sure-fire recipe for disaster.  

The pluses on the day included Dart’s two sharp scoring drives early on, his solid pocket decision-making, and his legs.  The above-the-neck stuff will come with experience, which he’s going to get plenty of this year.  

The 2025 season is an investment in Dart’s future.  It should not be measured in wins and losses. 

Running Backs 

⏹ Cam Skattebo 

Playing another tough, gritty, and productive game – 15 carries for 59 yards on the ground, six catches for 45 yards through the air – it was the rookie’s catastrophic fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter, with his team on the NO12 and driving in a 5-point game, that changed the entire scope of the game. 

It seemed like an innocuous between-the-tackles hit, but the Saints knocked it out of Skattebo’s left arm, and it went the other way for the touchdown.  Essentially, Skattebo gifted this game to the Saints with this turnover, which was all on the rookie.  

Want to talk about bad luck? The Giants fumbled three times this week and lost all three of them, each one bouncing right into a Saints defender’s hands.  The ball certainly takes some funny bounces.  

Before the fumble, we were going to sing Skattebo’s praises for the pancake block that he laid on a Saints defensive end on a fourth-down run, which was a highlight-reel block.  

The rookie is still must-see TV every time he is on the field; when he touches the ball, he’s a tackle-breaking machine, and when he’s blocking, he always seems to get his man.  Too bad an overall positive game was tainted so badly by one negative play.

⏹ Devin Singletary

The numbers were inconsequential today:  6 carries for 20 yards on the ground, one catch for four yards in the air. 

However, Singletary did contribute by converting two short yardage plays for first downs, including a fourth-down run.  

On the negative side, Singletary had an egregious drop in the flat that helped derail a second-half possession. 

He’s not going to be breaking any tackles or making anybody miss out there, so he’s got to play a mistake-free game, but Singletary knows how to squirm for needed yardage, and he knows how to block. 

Receivers

⏹ Darius Slayton 

With Malik Nabers gone for the year, it currently falls on this veteran to step up and lead the way.  That didn't happen. Slayton came up short on three separate first-half plays.  

The first one was a deep ball that he got his hands on; it would have been a tough catch, but when has Slayton ever made a tough catch?  His catches are primarily body catches, and that’s no way to make a good living in the NFL.  

Slayton then got deep on a flea flicker, and when the ball was underthrown, he failed to come back and fight for the ball, allowing the safety to knock it away.  

Finally, with the offense driving late in the half, Slayton caught a 9-yard throw, attempted to make some extra yardage (which is something that Slayton has struggled to do his entire career), and fumbled the ball against minimal contact.  

The turnover was converted into points as time expired, and the Saints went into the locker room with the lead that they would never relinquish.  

Slayton injured his hamstring in the second half and finished the game on the sideline with three catches for 31 yards on six targets, having contributed heavily to the loss.

⏹ Wan’Dale Robinson 

Doing little with his touches, Robinson was back to his short-game life, rarely running downfield and running sit-downs in the flat.  He finished with five catches for 30 yards.  

His best play might have been his tough 4th-and-1 end-around run that he took into the teeth of traffic and finished off for the first down.  We will never doubt this player’s toughness; it’s his size that is a big deterrent.  

On a late Jaxson Dart scramble, the quarterback found Robinson. But instead of making himself big, Robinson actually seemed to make himself smaller, turning a normal throw into a throw bouncing off his tiny hands and painfully short arms. 

⏹ Jalin Hyatt

Finally getting some opportunities with Nabers out, Hyatt didn’t see the ball throughout the first half. With the team in desperation mode, they finally threw two deep balls his way.  

Hyatt had a chance on one of them, but per usual, his hands weren’t strong enough to fend off contact for the catch.  

Hyatt also does not know how to draw flags on deep balls. His game not only lacks strength, it lacks finesse. He finished with zero catches on three targets.

⏹Beaux Collins

The undrafted rookie got his first NFL catch for 7 yards against a late zone, after earlier being flagged for a holdout in space on a running play.  

He finished off his non-descript day (28 snaps) by failing to fight through contact on a short route and giving up on his route, allowing the corner to finish the pattern for him and intercept the ball.  

This kid is proving his physicality on special teams, but his receiving game has a long way to go.  Let’s hope he can somehow get in sync with the rookie quarterback, who is desperate for wide receivers who can catch the occasional ball against contact.

Tight Ends

⏹ Theo Johnson

The early star of this week’s game was Johnson, who caught first-quarter touchdown passes of 1 and 15 yards.  He also had a 15-yarder late, committed one false start, and finished with six catches on seven targets for 33 yards.  

With Nabers out, it behooves this coaching staff to get Johnson downfield more and up the seams, where he makes such a big target.  

Johnson’s blocking was consistently strong at the point of attack and on edge seals.  Some of his double-team run blocks created significant space.  

He rarely came off the field, and is currently one of this offense’s best receiving game targets.  Look for future defenses to throw a lot of attention his way.

⏹ Daniel Bellinger

With today’s double TE-heavy game plan, Bellinger got himself 38 snaps to Theo Johnson’s 60.  Bellinger came out of the chute early on the opening drive with catches of 14 and 18 yards to get the ball down to the 1-yard line.  

Later on, he had two additional catches of 8 and 12 yards.  Bellinger appears to have a good sense of working the middle and utilizing his long frame to gain position and create space for himself.  

He runs reliable patterns, and he’s got decent body control and the most reliable hands on the team.  Isn’t it a shame that this coaching staff has so severely ignored his legit complementary skills and kept him on the outside looking in for so long?  

Bellinger might want to pay more attention to the ball when he falls to the ground because he allowed two of his four catches to bound away when hitting the ground, a bit too close for comfort. 

Bellinger isn’t the blocker that Johnson is, but he got in the way most of the time out there, though never dominated.  

⏹ Chris Manhertz 

Getting just eight snaps, Manhertz was in there to block exclusively on the edges, which he did very well.   

Offensive Line

⏹ Andrew Thomas 

Playing another spotless pass-blocking game on the edge, Thomas’ edge fell victim to some sort of miscommunication that released a free-running defensive end into his quarterback’s blindside.  

The resulting huge hit was ruled roughing the passer, but this kind of mess-up needs to be cleaned up, as Jaxson Dart has had free runners off the edge in consecutive games.  

Thomas’ run-blocking was nearly as productive as his pass-blocking.  He really looks healthy out there.

⏹ Jermaine Eluemunor 

This veteran tackle had a rough game on his edge with two holding penalties on pass blocks, plus a false start.  If you’re going to call these “iffy” holds on Eluemunor, then you have to be throwing flags on the O-linemen who tackle Abdul Carter every week.  

Other than these misplays, we thought Eluemunor had another solid pass-blocking game, though he struggled with his run blocking.  Eluemunor has heavy feet, which don’t react to the unexpected well on the move, which happens a lot in the pit.

⏹ Jon Runyan

A one-on-one pass block failure by Runyan undermined an early possession.  He also had a bad miss late in the second half, but otherwise it was a pretty good pass-blocking day.  

Runyan, who had a positive pulling game last week, was less effective on the move today in limited chances.  His in-line run-blocking was average. 

⏹ Greg Van Roten

Losing a handful of solo pass blocks of his own, it was Van Roten’s inability to be crisp or productive in the run game that brought down his grade. 

The veteran isn’t moving people out there in the pit, while his pass-blocking will never be something to write home about.  

He gets a passing grade for holding his own, but his side of the O-line continues to spring leaks every week.

⏹ John Michael Schmitz 

The critics of this third-year center need to go away because he’s been playing solid ball all season long, which continued this week.  

Schmitz’s run-blocking was crisp throughout as he consistently picked off an inside linebacker and turned him to open up creases.  His double teams, therefore, were successful even if his initial poke wasn’t strong enough.  

His pass-blocking was sharp one-on-one and in the help category.  Schmitz seems much calmer in his play this year.  

Experience is a great teacher, which is why we have such high hopes for our rookie quarterback, if he plays every snap the rest of the way. With an improving young center having seen it all, he can take advantage of all that experience to guide the way.