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Jaxson Dart continues to impress in the 2025 preseason, but the New York Giants refuse to name him as their starting quarterback before Week 1. As the rookie continues to thrive, experts only further believe that Russell Wilson’s window is quickly shutting.
Despite Dart’s success throughout the offseason, he remains third on the Giants’ quarterback depth chart, behind Wilson and Jameis Winston. As much as the team continues to insist that the 2025 season will be a pseudo-redshirt year for Dart, ESPN analyst Mike Tannenbaum believes he is the team’s best option and will see the majority of the snaps.
“Jaxson Dart is a better player and he is a better athlete than Russell Wilson,” Tannenbaum said. “I understand there’s going to be growing pains, but he is somebody that has energized this franchise… Russell Wilson, to me, is an athletically diminished player. He was sacked at a rate 31 percent above the league average. Is it going to be perfect from day one? Absolutely not; he will make mistakes. But a young, ascending Jaxson Dart is what the New York Giants franchise needs because that will make him better in November and December. Russell Wilson has had a good career, but he’s clearly closer to the end.”
"Jaxson Dart is a better player and he's a better athlete than Russell Wilson."@RealTannenbaum shares his thoughts on the Giants' QBs pic.twitter.com/YpJjCbVQj4
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 19, 2025
As much as fans want to see Dart, the Giants’ brutal 2025 schedule is likely a factor in Brian Daboll’s mind. New York begins the season against the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers — four of the league’s best defenses.
The Giants are not only content with Wilson opening the year as their starter; they are reportedly satisfied if Dart spends his entire rookie season on the bench. New York appears to be emulating the Alex Smith-Patrick Mahomes model employed by the Kansas City Chiefs, a strategy that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was involved in during the 2017 season.
However, the strategy will only work if Wilson leads the team to success in 2025. Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen entered the offseason on the hot seat, likely putting them one more bad season away from unemployment. If Wilson performs like he did with the Denver Broncos and Daboll refuses to give in to fan pressure by keeping Dart on the bench, that could be his final straw. Wilson has been a mixed bag of results late in his career and could easily play his way out of the job.
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