The New York Football Giants are struggling through yet another rudderless season and they need to make a serious change now. Luckily for Giants fans, the front office and the coaching staff did just that when they announced that Jaxson Dart will be starting in Week 3 after Russell Wilson was demoted to a reserve role. Wilson was a great player in his prime, but it’s painfully obvious to anybody watching that he just doesn’t have much left in the tank.
The Giants need a new player to infuse hope into the franchise, and the start of the Jaxson Dart era at home against the Los Angeles Chargers might be just what the doctor ordered for Big Blue.
Let's take a look at why this decision was the correct one for the Giants' brass to make.
The Giants need to see what they have in Dart
The reality is that this year will likely be another lost season for the Giants. They already started 0-3 and they just don’t have all of the pieces necessary to make a serious postseason run. This is all the more reason for Jaxson Dart to get reps now while he can develop in a relatively low-pressure situation and the front office and coaching staff can see what they have in the guy they hope will be their future franchise quarterback.
It’s critical for the team's evaluators to get a decent look at Dart’s capabilities in order to know what he can and cannot do. While Giants fans are undoubtedly hoping that Dart will become the franchise's savior at the quarterback position, it would be better for the team to know now if they’ll need to go back to the quarterback well in 2026. If it doesn’t look like Dart is going to be the guy and they need to take another look at signal callers, there are no shortage of elite prospects in this upcoming draft class.
The more likely scenario, though, is that the Giants will stick with Dart for another year regardless of how he looks. In that case, it’s still essential to get a good look at what he can do, because this information will prove valuable in determining what positions the team should prioritize in the upcoming draft.
The likely contenders for position groups to target early would include the offensive line and the pass-catching corps. If Dart showcases the ability to process his reads at a high level and spread the ball around along with demonstrating a knack for escaping when the pocket collapses, it might make more sense to target a running mate for Malik Nabers.
However, if he struggles with his reads and also lets pressure get to him, it might make more sense to shore up the offensive line and add a promising bookend opposite Andrew Thomas.
Dart will be coming into a fairly low-pressure situation
Let’s face reality: even with Russell Wilson‘s unexpected outburst for much of the game against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2, it can’t get much worse than the product that Wilson is putting on the field right now. Even with his 450-yard performance against the Cowboys, Wilson still managed to fall short and committed a crucial turnover in overtime right when he needed to protect the football the most.
The reality is that the NFL is full of bright lights and there’s almost no scenario in which a young player can truly develop with no pressure. However, it’s also true that Dart is coming into a scenario that is as close to no pressure as possible. It was expected that he would be a bit of a project and if he struggles in his first cup of coffee at the highest level, he won’t face a ton of blame or criticism.
If anything, most of the blame will be directed at Wilson for playing so poorly and forcing the team’s hand to put Dart on the field before the rookie was ready. Expectations are also at their lowest possible point because most reasonable fans and evaluators recognize that the Giants have little to no hope for this year anyways, regardless of how Dart performs.
Anything that the rookie does well will be grasped at by the organization’s fanbase, which is desperate for hope of better days to come, and any struggles he has will be waved away as rookie growing pains.
The team must keep Malik Nabers happy
Malik Nabers is an elite weapon at the wide receiver position, and the team's front office and coaching staff must do whatever they can to keep him happy. Wilson is a deep ball specialist, but he doesn’t quite have much gas left in the tank. Sure, he’ll have his moments, but Nabers is going to need consistent targets and high quality throws at all levels of the field. Dart has a much better arm and, as a young player, he’ll likely lean heavily on his number one target at the wideout position.
Nabers is certainly going to be happier with an increased share of targets in the early going while Dart gets acclimated to the NFL. One of the worst case possible scenarios for the Giants would be Nabers getting fed up at the end of the season and demanding a trade. The team must make sure that doesn’t happen, that’s just one more reason why they made the right decision in promoting Dart to the starting role.
