It’s week 1 of the NFL season, and Washington Commanders will be facing the New York Giants at Northwest Stadium in Landover, MD this Sunday at 1:00 pm EDT. In 2024, the Commanders went 12-5 and competed in the NFC Championship game, while the Giants went 3-14 and earned the 3rd overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, yet the Commanders didn’t beat the Giants by more than a single score in either of their two 2024 matchups. With an offseason to heal and improve, this Giants team could be significantly
better than last year’s team.
On offense, New York’s biggest offseason changes were at QB. The Giants granted Daniel Jones’ request for release in November of last season. They signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in free agency, then traded back into the 1st round of the 2025 draft to pick Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart. Although Dart has looked confident and capable in limited preseason action, Russell Wilson has been named the starter to open the season. Preseason action indicates HC Brian Daboll has installed two different offenses: a more pro-style offense featuring heavy use of play action to set up shots downfield for Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, and a more college-style offense featuring heavy use of RPOs for Jaxson Dart.
On defense, the Giants built on strength by adding Abdul Carter to their talented DL. Carter has drawn comparisons to Micah Parsons as an explosive and supremely-talented edge rusher who started out playing off-ball linebacker in college. Adding Carter to a DL that already featured All Pro DT Dexter Lawrence and Pro Bowl edge rusher Brian Burns gives the Giants a lot of talent to win up front. Although the Giants off-ball linebacker and DB groups don’t have the same high-end talent as the DL, they have solid players and what should be good depth.
I asked Ed Valentine of Big Blue View five questions to better understand the state of the Giants and what to look for in this game.
1) What do you expect the offense to look like under QB Russell Wilson and how will it be different than last year?
Wilson is still one of the league’s best deep-ball throwers. Last year he was second in the NFL in deep ball completion percentage behind Sam Darnold, per Pro Football Focus. In 2024, the deep ball was non-existent for the Giants. Their quarterbacks (Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy Devito) went 12 of 56 (21.4%) on throws of 20 or more yards. That will change, whether it is Wilson, Jameis Winston or Jaxson Dart behind center.
2) Feel free to disagree, but my impression is that GM Joe Schoen was dismal with most of his 2022 and 2023 draft picks, but did great with his 2024 and 2025 draft picks. What accounts for the improvement and do you think he finally has the Giants headed in the right direction?
Schoen’s first draft in 2022 was done without many of the front office members he has since added, and without the revamped scouting staff Schoen has put in place. He has admitted some discomfort because of that, and because he had never worked with then-DC Wink Martindale. There was a lot of uncertainty. That said, few people expected the selection of Evan Neal No. 7 overall to flop so spectacularly.
I think what you see now is that Schoen is comfortable with the staff around him and the massively revamped systems the organization has put in place. They have a much better overall idea of what they are looking for, and what their process is going to be for finding out.
That has paid dividends in the last two drafts. It needs to continue. This is an improved Giants roster, but when you are trying to come up from the bottom missteps always set you back.
3) The Giants defense looks to be talented and deep this year. Walk us through what makes it special and what weaknesses (if any) you expect it to have?
What makes the Giants’ defense “potentially” special is the expectation of what we could see from the pass rush. Dexter Lawrence is one of the two best defensive tackles in football, and a dominant interior pass rusher. On the edge, the Giants have Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter, who is drawing Micah Parsons comparisons.
The run defense wasn’t good last year, and there is still concern despite upgrades on the defensive line (Roy Robertson-Harris, third-round pick Darius Alexander) that it won’t be good enough to take full advantage of the pass rush.
The Giants added cornerback Paulson Adebo and safety Jevon Holland in the secondary. There is concern at the other corner, where 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks has been a disappointment and might have lost that job to Cor’Dale Flott.
4) Who is one Giants player on offense and one player on defense that Washington fans probably don’t know much about, but should?
Offense — This is hard because the quarterback spot was the only major change on offense from last season. I will say James Hudson. He is probably going to start at left tackle as Andrew Thomas is uncertain as he recovers from Lisfranc surgery. The Giants signed Hudson from the Cleveland Browns as a swing tackle in free agency. He’s athletic, the Giants love his aggression and his tone-setting attitude. He is just prone to penalties. How he holds up is going to be a major curiosity.
Defense — Third-round pick Darius Alexander, out of Toledo, had a quiet summer but the Giants need him to emerge as a quality player next to Lawrence. I expect him to improve as the season goes along. Initially, though, let’s see how big of a role he plays.
5) How should Washington go about game planning this matchup on both sides of the ball?
Well, defensively you want to “try” to make the Giants throw the ball to people other than Malik Nabers. I don’t know if that’s possible — he is one of those guys you throw the ball to even when he’s covered because he makes plays, anyway. You want to make the Giants one-dimensional. I don’t think they want to throw the ball 40 times.
On offense, you want to establish the run and stay out of obvious passing situations. Good luck if the Giants can turn that pass rush loose with no worries about the run game. You probably want to target the Banks/Flott side of the field in the pass game whenever you can.
A companion article to this with my answers to Ed’s questions can be found here.
Thanks again to Ed Valentine for taking time out of his day to answer our questions about the Giants.
