First-round quarterbacks almost never sit throughout their rookie seasons. The Packers have, after all, executed two such plans since 2005; select other teams have also kept Round 1 QB prospects on the bench — just not many.
The Chiefs didn’t turn to Patrick Mahomes until Week 17 of his rookie 12 months, and that got here in a meaningless season-ender while Alex Smith prepared for a wild-card game. Within the rookie-scale contract era (2011-present), a number of the other players to not be called upon as non-injury-driven starters as rookies — Trey Lance, Paxton Lynch, Jake Locker — didn’t pan out. Teams, though, recurrently pay lip service to the old-school watch-and-learn method — one which benefited Mahomes within the 2010s and Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Chad Pennington within the aughts.
Choosing Jaxson Dart twenty fifth overall (via trade-up with the Texans), the Giants are in an interesting spot. Their refusal to draft Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix — after a Drake Maye-based trade-up effort failed — last 12 months preceded a 3-14 season and a dire QB need forming. The team settled on Russell Wilson as its bridge option, as plans to draft certainly one of the scrutinized 2025 passers — after a Cam Ward-based trade-up failed — were well-known. The Giants landed on Dart, the second QB drafted, due to a push from Brian Daboll.
Daboll has proclaimed Wilson as his starter at multiple junctures, however the potential Hall of Fame quarterback is now on his fourth team in five years. The 36-year-old option also readies to face what’s, based on last 12 months’s win totals at the least, the NFL’s hardest schedule. The Giants would buck a well-established trend by letting Wilson play ahead of Dart all season, but Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano indicates the team can be “completely effective” if this happened.
In fact, this reality would likely require Wilson to maintain the Giants within the playoff hunt. It could be a little bit of a stretch to expect the Giants, whose regime is on the recent seat due to backing Dave Gettleman‘s preferred QB option (Daniel Jones), to maintain Dart benched for too long if it becomes clear they aren’t a viable playoff contender. How the team handles Wilson and Jameis Winston on the trade deadline on this scenario can be price monitoring closely as well. Currently, Dart is stationed behind each on Recent York’s depth chart.
Gettleman had said in 2019 the Giants were OK with the Chiefs model, however the team benched Eli Manning for Jones two games in. Given Wilson’s journey since a 2022 blockbuster trade ended his Seattle stay, it is going to be a troublesome ask to stop Daboll from promoting a player he essentially handpicked.
As detailed in our Giants Offseason In Review piece, the Daboll-Joe Schoen duo not making their very own QB investment from 2022-24 would stand to influence Dart’s timeline — especially if Wilson struggles against a troublesome schedule early. Though, it is going to be on the Giants’ staff to find out how close the Ole Miss prospect is to game-ready.
Wilson played effectively for the Steelers last season, following a 26-touchdown pass/eight-interception 2023 bounce-back 12 months in Denver. But neither team wanted him back. The Broncos paid a record-smashing dead money sum to ditch Wilson, and the Steelers preferred a number of options — Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Justin Fields — over their primary 2024 starter.
This got here after a difficult finish to Pittsburgh’s schedule brought five straight losses to shut a season that began 10-3. Wilson ranked twenty first in QBR in Pittsburgh and twenty second in Denver over the past two seasons; that might be an upgrade for Recent York, but calls for Dart figure to be loud if the Giants start slowly.