Compared to this time a year ago, the New York Giants are in a glaringly different place as a franchise. The quarterback room has been completely overhauled, the offensive identity has been retooled, and the defense looks poised to be one of the league’s most ferocious units in 2025.
And all of the positive changes in East Rutherford stem from one crucial development: The Daniel Jones experience is in the rearview mirror. In his place, the team boasts a two-pronged quarterback plan: Russell Wilson will hold down the fort as the bridge starter with 2025 first-round pick Jaxson Dart waiting in the wings until he’s ready to take over, or when Wilson begins to struggle.
The blend of experience and upside seems like a fantastic plan on paper. A future Hall-of-Famer, mentoring one of the highest-upside young quarterbacks, feels like a recipe for success, but not everyone agrees. When pinpointing every NFC team’s biggest challenge, CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin pointed to the quarterback tandem as Big Blue’s major red flag.
Offensive line, not quarterback, is the Giants’ biggest red flag
“The Giants mercifully ended the Daniel Jones era in the middle of last season and will eventually make a transition to Jaxson Dart, but before then, there's going to be a whole lot of Russell Wilson -- and that's a major question mark,” Dubin wrote.
If you told anyone in the tri-state area a year ago that Wilson would be New York’s biggest problem, they would have probably laughed in your face. It is nearly impossible to get worse under center than what the G-Men had in 2024.
While he did praise Wilson’s deep ball, Dubin’s assessment could not be more off-line. He didn’t point to what Malik Nabers accomplished as a rookie despite subpar QB play. There’s a real foundation in place in East Rutherford once things stabilize.
Yes, starting a 36-year-old signal-caller will always provide more questions than answers, but the Super Bowl champion has the arm strength to run head coach Brian Daboll’s scheme. Since he’s not a long-term starter, there’s no risk to signing the 10-time Pro Bowler, only a reward that can help the Ole Miss product’s development. And that only grew more true following New York's preseason opener.
It’s the offensive line that could have the quarterbacks sweating. Andrew Thomas is one of the best tackles in football, but he missed 17 games over the last two seasons, and he’s started training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. And this unit is far from the same when he’s not out there.
Evan Neal has looked better since his move to guard, and Marcus Mbow looks poised to start for Big Blue this season, but this is still a unit that needs more consistency in order to protect their quarterback of the future... and present.
So no, the quarterback spot isn’t the giant-sized red flag for this team's roster. The real worry should be how well the offensive line can keep Wilson upright and give Dart a clean pocket when his time comes. If anything, the quarterback room is a source of excitement entering 2025.