BREAKING: Giants To Start Jaxson Dart, Bench Russell Wilson in Week 4

It was only a matter of time before Jaxson Dart, the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Ole Miss, saw the football field. This was never going to a “Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers” situation where Dart sat for a couple of seasons before playing meaningful snaps: the New York Giants used their second first round pick of the 2025 NFL Draft with a more immediate impact in mind.

And with leashes on starting quarterbacks shorter than they have ever been in the NFL, it took just three games for the Giants to pull the plug on veteran starting quarterback Russell Wilson, in his first season with New York.

Wilson was leading the league in passing yards following the Giants shootout loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. To be fair, leading the league in passing through two games is a small sample size, especially when one of those games is against a defense that just made Caleb Williams look like an All-Pro.

But after a pretty poor passing performance, and even worse decision-making, in a Week 3 Sunday Night Football loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Giants have already decided they had seen enough.

If this seems unfair towards Wilson, it’s worth factoring in his play with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos over the last three seasons. Can Wilson still uncork a moon ball in a big situation? Yes, and he nearly won the game in Week 2 thanks to his big play ability. But the limitations of Wilson at quarterback have been apparent for years now: the Giants already knew which version of Wilson they were getting when they signed him this offseason, hence the short leash. Three starts, three losses, and Wilson heads to the bench.

In comes Jaxson Dart. Head coach Brian Daboll has been teasing defenses with “special packages” designed to insert Dart in to game over the last two weeks. But Dart has yet to record a passing attempt: he’s rushed twice for a net of zero yards, and handed the ball off a couple of times.

In this regard, Dart will come in pretty cold as a passer, but will be tasked with leading the 0-3 Giants against the 3-0 Chargers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, September 28.

Expectations for Dart will vary widely, but ultimately, the Giants themselves have low expectations and will be significant home underdogs against Justin Herbert and an undefeated Chargers squad.

I expect Daboll to play it fairly conservative with Dart, leaning in to Cam Skattebo’s emergence in the running game, and getting Dart going early with some quick, short passes. Hopefully Dart can connect with second-year wideout Malik Nabers, who was shut down with just two catches for 13 yards against the Chiefs in Week 3 despite being targeted seven times.

With one of the most intriguing quarterback rooms in the NFL (with Wilson and Dart rubbing elbows with Jameis Winston), this is the first but potentially not the last quarterback change we’ll see in New York this season. As bleak as it sounds, the Giants haven’t had much success over most of the last decade, and currently sit winless: it’s hard for their situation to get any worse with Dart at quarterback.

Pundits might argue that being thrown in to the fire could stunt Dart’s development, and that Wilson may give the team a better chance to win now despite the 0-3 start.

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