Big Blue View
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.”
I have said this before, but I believe the best-case scenario is for the Giants to provide as long a runway as possible...
