The New York Giants’ season has taken a sharp turn after quarterback Jaxson Dart’s knee injury ended his regular season, transforming early dark-horse playoff expectations into uncertainty about the franchise’s chances of winning it all.
CBS Sports’ Carter Bahns appraised the Giants as a team that will now likely contend for another high pick in the 2027 NFL draft
after losing Dart for a lengthy stretch.There is no sugar coating the Giants' outlook without Dart. What had all the makings of a (finally) exciting year is already down the tubes. The offense looked hapless with Jameis Winston on in relief against the Los Angeles Rams, and while the veteran has had decent stretches in the past, his diminished arm strength, persistent turnover problems
and the immense downgrade in mobility he brings compared to Dart puts a firm ceiling on the Giants.
Winston will potentially man the offense for the remainder of the year after Dart's MRI revealed a worse injury than expected. In five games without Dart since his arrival as a first-round pick, the Giants are 0-5. That history suggests that so long as Winston is the man under center, New York will stand among the worst teams in the NFL. The silver lining is that the Giants should be able to add more premium young talent to their enticing core in the 2027 draft, but this was supposed to be a season in which that group elevated them out of the early draft pick range and into playoff contention.
New York entered the year with momentum around Dart, whose brilliant play in Week 1 made the Giants look like the legitimate NFC contender they were forecast to be throughout the offseason. Instead, the second-year quarterback was injured during the team’s Week 2 loss to the Rams, leaving veteran Jameis Winston to take over the offense in a game that ended in defeat.
The Giants remain capable of competing if Winston limits his turnovers and makes sound decisions, and if the defense plays well. Winston is still a prolific passer at this stage of his career and is capable of leading New York to several more wins. Head coach John Harbaugh and his staff will need to put him in the best position, schematically and from a coaching standpoint, to maximize his immense arm talent while reducing costly decisions.
Nevertheless, Dart’s absence greatly impacts the team. New York now faces a defining stretch in which each loss will move the club closer to the top of the 2027 draft order.
For a franchise that believed it had found its long-term quarterback, the Giants have gone back to the drawing board. A season with more than six wins is still well within reason. Until that is proven, the pendulum may swing in either direction.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Are Jaxson Dart-less Giants in line for a high draft pick in 2027?
