NY Giants Review: Big Blue Continues to Get Strong Preseason Play from Quarterbacks

What if we told you that the New York Giants quarterbacks are currently ranked fifth in the NFL in completion percentage?

It’s true, Giants fans. Big Blue’s complete renovation of its quarterback room has thus far been nothing short of a success, the Giants' signal callers–Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, Jaxson Dart, and Tommy DeVito–having completed 68.1% of their pass attempts this preseason, putting them fifth in the league in that category.

That’s a huge step up from last summer, when the quarterbacks completed 52.6% of their pass targets, 29th in the league at summer’s end.

Granted, some might argue that the Giants haven’t faced defenses at full strength, but there’s no question that the talent upgrade at the position has put this team in a much better spot than it’s been in recent years.

Let’s get into the individual performances.

Russell Wilson

Getting the start once again, the presumptive opening day starter got himself three possessions in this week’s game.

His trademark moonball 80-yard completion to receiver Beaux Collins was a big-time throw and should have been a touchdown, the rookie getting tackled at the 1-yard line. The resulting score gave the Giants an early 7-0 lead.

Wilson’s fast start fluttered after that as he was late on a couple of throws, hit on a couple of short throws, and on his fourth possession, he threw an end zone interception when he and Collins were not on the same page on a deep throw (we suspect Collins was at fault on this turnover).

Wilson was solid but not great, finishing with 4 of 7 for 108 yards. He likely has done enough throughout this preseason to maintain that opening day start, but the young stud who we’ll discuss next is breathing down his neck.

Jaxson Dart

Yes, the “young stud” in question is Dart, who took over midway through the second quarter and immediately executed a neat screen pass to tight end Theo Johnson for 30 yards.

This possession ended when Wilson replaced Dart– a planned moment by head coach Brian Daboll to test Dart’s readiness–and immediately threw his interception. Dart had one more inconsequential series, but it went 3-and-out.

The third quarter belonged to Dart, who looked as good as a rookie quarterback can look with his quick and smart decision-making, his continued excellence in navigating the pocket, and the timing and accuracy of his throws.

His 20-yard dart to tight end Greg Dulcich to finish off his initial third series was textbook in its timing and accuracy, setting up the play with a fake toss. This was Dart’s best throw on a night where nearly every one of his throws was starter-level.

On his next possession, he conducted an aria on how to use the entire field while running a no-huddle offense crisply. It was like killing the defense with a million cuts, a thing of beauty. He finished off this drive with a quick-thinking quarterback sneak.

Dart’s performance in these two third-quarter possessions took over the game. He finished off both possessions with touchdowns; no settling for field goals with this kid. His numbers once again reflected his excellence: 14 of 16 for 137 yards, one touchdown, one sack (on which he just missed out-running Jets pursuit.

There’s probably still work to do with Dart’s footwork, which may be why the coaches hold him back a bit while they fine-tune his mechanics. We know it’s only preseason and the regular season is a lot more complicated, but this rookie’s mental grasp of the game has been passing with flying colors through two impressive preseason games.

He’s on an arc to becoming this team’s starter, and it’s not a very steep arc–sooner than later, we’d say.

Jameis Winston

What a luxury to have the veteran Winston at the coaches’ beck and call to run the offense with barely a hitch in the play level at this most important of positions.

We’d hate to see the Giants trade away Winston, who reportedly has been drawing some interest among quarterback-needy teams. Better that Winston be the Giants backup than say go to the Saints, where he’d probably be the contingency plan for them, no?

The Giants quarterback room is as good as it’s been in a decade when Eli Manning was the whole shebang. Getting back to Winston’s performance, the veteran took over for the rookie late in the third quarter and produced a 12-play field goal drive and a 10-play touchdown-scoring drive.

He ate up the clock and took away any hope the Jets might have had of climbing back into the game. Winston wasn’t perfect; he rarely is.

But he was not only good, he was smart and efficient, going 6-11-110 and handling the offense smoothly. If there’s a deeper quarterback room in the league, we’d like to see it.

Tommy DeVito

The fourth stringer had a pretty good final possession. DeVito completed one flat throw, one deep ball for 41 yards, a short crosser for 11 more yards, and then he got unlucky going for it all deep down the middle of the end zone, but his throw his a defender’s helmet and popped up in the air to a fellow Jets defender for DeVito’s unlucky bounce.

He finished with 3-of-4 for 52 yards plus the interception, but otherwise threw the ball accurately. We still don’t think he makes the team, but we wonder if, given the depth of this quarterback room and the need for help from quarterback-needy teams, they might pick up the phone and make an inquiry.

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Russell Wilson

Jaxson Dart

Jameis Winston

Tommy DeVito

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