The Jaxson Dart era could start as early as Sunday afternoon for the New York Giants.
In the event quarterback Russell Wilson and the Giants offense look as inept against the Dallas Cowboys as they did during an offense-less 21-6 loss in Week 1 to the Washington Commanders, no one should be surprised if Daboll turns to his rookie quarterback.
Whether or not that is a good idea is debatable. And it certainly has been a hot topic of debate.
There are those, like SNY’s Connor Hughes, who think Dart should
be in Sunday’s game quickly if Wilson can’t get the Giants’ offense going:
Russell Wilson should start for the Giants in Dallas. New York boasted all offseason about its bullet-proof quarterback plan — to win in the present with the veteran, while readying the rookie for the future. To abandon that after one week, no matter how inept the offense looked in its 21-6 loss to the Commanders, would send such horrific signals.
But plans change. And if Wilson’s anemic play continues in the first quarter and the second, then Daboll cannot hesitate to make the switch. His infatuation with his hand-picked passer is cemented in logic. He knows Dart is the key to everything he hopes the Giants can become.
So don’t wait. This needs to be Dart’s show the second half on.
There are others, like ESPN’s Mel Kiper, who think playing him this early is a bad idea:
“I mean you can work him in for packages and I know that it’s been talked about,” Kiper said. “I would not go away from Russell Wilson for five games. Give it a chance. This defense is gonna show up. Not having Andrew Thomas affected the offensive line. It’s Russell Wilson‘s first year with these guys. Let’s see how he does because the schedule is very difficult for the Giants. If you throw Jaxson Dart out there… I know he had a heck of a preseason but that was against [other occupation guys]. That’s who he played against.”
“When you get into the NFL, you don’t want it to be where he has to save the season. Let the season play out with Russell Wilson. If things go awry and you’re not winning games and he’s not playing well enough, then you move to Jaxson Dart. Once you turn the page with Jaxson Dart, you don’t look back. You gotta wait it out.”
“I gotta give Russell Wilson a month or a month and a half. I know fans want it to happen tomorrow, but I’d give it some time before I pulled the plug and went to a rookie. If Jaxson Dart gets an opportunity, I think I’d have it be in more fifth, sixth or seventh week of the season.”
Valentine’s View
I have said this before, but I believe the best-case scenario is for the Giants to provide as long a runway as possible for Dart before handing him the reigns.
A full redshirt season is not going to happen. I have said again and again, though, that no young quarterback has ever been ruined by having to wait his turn. Sure, that will test the youngster’s patience, and that of the fan base. Plenty of young quarterbacks have been ruined, or had their developments severely damaged, by being thrust into less than idea circumstances too soon and being asked to be the savior of a floundering franchise or head coach.
The Giants would like to wait. They would love it if Wilson would connect on enough moon balls and be good enough to run a middle of the pack offense that would keep them in games, and if the ballyhooed defense would create enough game-changing plays to make the Giants a surprise playoff contender.
Reporting from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday confirms as much. Schefter wrote:
There is “no sense of urgency” in the New York Giants organization to bench Russell Wilson and start rookie Jaxson Dart, sources told ESPN.
It doesn’t mean a change can’t come soon at the quarterback position, but the Giants would prefer that it not happen anytime soon, according to sources. New York would prefer to continue to be patient, let Wilson play well and give Dart the time he needs to develop, sources said.
That, though, might not be their reality.
The Giants scored six points in their season-opening game. They could not generate a touchdown with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. The running game was non-existent. The receivers, including Malik Nabers, didn’t make enough plays. The pass protection was leaky.
What was around Wilson wasn’t good. The 14-year veteran, though, wasn’t good, either. He completed just 17 of 37 passes. He was off target sometimes. Hesitant other times. Occasionally was looking at the rush rather his receivers. There was no magic. No life. No spark in the Giants’ offense.
The Giants were 9-25 combined in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Daboll’s future as Giants head coach hinges on two things:
- Winning enough games to provide tangible evidence that progress is being made after the last two disastrous seasons.
- Showing ownership that he was right to push for the drafting of Dart, and that no matter what the record turns out to be in 202t showing ownership that there could be a bright future if they allow the Dart-Daboll pairing time to flourish.
There is no way that Daboll, if he sees that the offense just isn’t going to function as hoped with Wilson and that winning games is going to be a difficult proposition, watches the season — and maybe his head-coaching career — go up in flames without getting Dart on the field to try and prove point No. 2.
The Giants think Dart is ready
Daboll doesn’t have to say that out loud. The way he has acted has already said it.
The Giants named Dart QB2 to start the season, with Jameis Winston serving as the inactive emergency third quarterback. That meant that Daboll was comfortable with Dart having to enter a game midstream if something happened to Wilson.
“He [Dart] had a good camp. He had a good preseason,” Daboll said. “Again, for young quarterbacks, you’re going to see a variety of things when you first start playing that you need to learn from. Every kind of checkpoint we’ve had for him in his process, albeit only a couple months with us, he’s done a good job with. We’ll continue to work with him and do the things we need to do. He’s a tireless worker, I’d say in the classroom and then outside too. He’s going through tons of plays, both mentally and then physically throughout practice and after practice.”
After Wilson and the offense struggled in Week 1, Daboll was given two opportunities in his post-game press conference to affirm that Wilson would be the starter in Week 2. He demurred, telling the world without saying it that the idea of going to Dart had crossed his mind.
Daboll did quickly name Wilson the starter on Monday, but the simple delay spoke volumes.
“Each day we’re trying to groom him [Dart] and when he has to play, he’ll be ready to play,” Daboll said. “As a young quarterback, there’s so many different things that you’re going to have to go through. There’ll be ups and downs, but in terms of the process that we’re doing with him, each day, he does a little bit better.”
Daboll did explain a bit of the process being used to help Dart prepare for whenever the Giants do turn to him.
“I meet with him every week. And we go through a number of plays that he runs on the show team. There’s a lot of good learning examples from that,” Daboll said. “You try to play that like a game the best you can with your timing, with your rhythm, with your eye control, with your mechanics, with when to take off, when not to take off. You treat those show team reps, if you will, like game reps. And then when you’re standing behind the offense when they’re going, he’s taking game reps on every play, along with Jameis [Winston]. And they’re back there 10 yards going through the mechanics, motions, shifts, protection calls, re-identifications. They’re playing the game, not with the 10 other guys, but they’re playing it behind the huddle and taking advantage of every opportunity they can.”
Dart runs the show team, giving work to the defensive starters. As they did during training camp, the Giants do occasionally sneak in a first-team rep for Dart.
“We mix him in once in a while on the first unit, we mix him in,” Daboll said. “But he spends a lot of time going through the script and going through the plays and keeping guys after practice and working through an entire script and throwing live balls. That’s just the plan we have for him.”
Dart thinks he will be ready whenever the Giants call on him.
“I’m confident in myself, so whatever opportunity happens, or whatever may happen, I’m preparing for that opportunity,” Dart said on Friday. “I feel like I’m going to go out there and succeed anytime I’m on the field.”
That time might just be hours away.
