A lot can be said about the New York Giants and their Week 1 flop against the Washington Commanders, with a lot of the finger pointing headed toward Russell Wilson. The 36-year-old, 14-year veteran was supposed to be an upgrade over Daniel Jones. However, ironically enough, it was Jones who looked like a franchise signal-caller on Sunday, not Wilson.
Even with the future Hall of Famer struggling in his debut, Giants fans know he isn’t the future — that belongs to preseason standout Jaxson Dart. It’s only a matter of time before the 22-year-old sees the field, with some believing it could come as early as this weekend in Dallas. Still, it finally looks like the G-Men have their franchise QB on the roster, which could put them in a better spot than the Patriots, the team that said no to their trade offer in 2024, who now have more questions than answers with Drake Maye.
Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald might’ve said it best: “Maye showed improvement during the spring over OTAs and minicamp. But there wasn’t an obvious upward trajectory during training camp and the preseason. And then Maye looked like, in some ways, a less dangerous version of himself from last year in Week 1.” That’s not exactly what Pats fans are looking for while they're still reeling from the loss of Tom Brady.
Drake Maye’s early struggles confirm the Giants might’ve dodged one in 2024
The G-Men tried to get Maye. Joe Schoen made calls, but New England didn’t bite. So they pivoted and took Malik Nabers at No. 6. It wasn’t the quarterback headline some fans wanted, but Nabers went on to have a record-setting rookie season, and now with Dart in the building (taken a year later with a plan in place), it’s starting to look like this thing played out exactly how it needed to.
Maye might still become a star, but it’s been a rough start for the 23-year-old. He just hasn't taken a leap. He still looks the same he did last year, which was... fine. You'd hate to throw Mac Jones comparisons out there, but if you were wondering how they fared in their first 13 games, it'd look something like:
Mac Jones | Drake Maye | |
|---|---|---|
Record | 9-4 | 3-10 |
Passing yards | 2,869 | 2,563 |
Passing TDs | 16 | 16 |
Interceptions | 8 | 11 |
Now, I'm not going to sit here and declare a winner, but... Obviously there's a lot of nuance and missing context, so no one is suggesting that Maye is the next Mac Jones or that he's going to fail, but there are some legitimate concerns in his first 13 starts.
Additionally, the Pats — since Brady left — are right on pace with the Giants with an underwhelming 33-52 record over the past five-plus years (Big Blue is 28-56-1). So, not necessarily encouraging that Maye looks like a less dangerous version of himself, when he wasn't all that dangerous last year.
That’s the part that should stand out. If you’re New England, the entire point of drafting Maye was to break out of that post-Brady spiral — not stay stuck in it. He’s supposed to elevate the roster, not blend into the mediocrity. And while it’s still early, the lack of tangible progress feels familiar. The Giants have seen this cycle before. It’s what they were trying to escape by pivoting to Nabers and following that up the following year by trading up to select Dart.
And while offseason success won't inherently lead to regular-season success on its own, early results indicate they might’ve actually done it.
Week 13 is going to be the one to circle. Monday Night Football in Foxborough. Drake Maye vs. (likely) Jaxson Dart. That night might not crown a new franchise QB in New York, but it’ll sure speak volumes about whether or not missing out on Maye was actually a major blessing in disguise.