Giants' New Offensive Triplet Hype Gets a Brutal Reality Check

Despite the soaring potential of Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers, and Cam Skattebo, a major national ranking isn't buying the hype for one specific reason.

New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers's readiness for Week 1 remains in doubt. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants are building a young offensive core with more promise than the unit has had in years. Quarterback Jaxson Dart, receiver Malik Nabers, and running back Cam Skattebo look ready to headline a dynamic offense under new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.

But Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated is already pumping the brakes on the trio's hype train. In his ranking of the NFL's offensive "triplets," he put the Giants' group in the bottom five, citing the trio's overall health as the primary reason.

Only the Tennessee Titans, the Cleveland Browns, and the Miami Dolphins were ranked lower than the Giants' trio.  

Nabers and Skattebo, as is well-known, are both recovering from season-ending injuries. Nabers, who tore his ACL in Week 4 last year, seems to have a much longer road to recovery than Skattebo, who suffered a Week 8 ankle injury, but the point being that this young group of Giants triplets is still unproven given that they haven’t really played that much together is hard to ignore.

And sticking with the health factor, until he proves otherwise, Dart is also someone to be concerned about, given that he was evaluated five times for a concussion as a rookie. The quarterback has since said that he’s going to be smarter about when to take risks as a runner, but that could still prove to be a challenge for the uber-competitive quarterback.

“My competitiveness isn't going to change at all,” he told reporters last month. “It just goes into situationally–just what times it's worth it and what times it's not, and just making those mature decisions.”

Dart, Nabers, and Skattebo Could Change the Narrative in 2026

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While Dart, Nabers, and Skattebo are the presumed triplets leading New York's offense, they hardly shared the field in 2025. In fact, the three stars played only one game together as starters: the Week 4 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

The glimpse of what the three could do was short-lived, but the small sample shows reason for optimism.  

Nabers is already an established superstar. His 1,200-yard rookie season immediately pushed him into top-ten receiver discussions.

Dart and Skattebo still have more to prove. The young quarterback was impressive in his rookie season, totaling 24 touchdowns (passing and rushing) despite waiting on the bench to start the year.

Still, there are underlying concerns. His 23% pressure-to-sack rate was among the highest in the league, and he fumbled the ball five times, with two lost balls, the five fumbles tying him for 18th among quarterbacks. 

Among the key areas of focus for Dart this year will be not holding onto the ball too long and working more efficiently under center.

Skattebo just needs to stay healthy. He was efficient last season, picking up an average of 3.04 yards after contact per attempt. If the blocking in front of him is better and the opportunities are there, he has the potential to hit 1,000 rushing yards in 2026.

The three young stars certainly have the potential to prove their doubters wrong this season. They'll just need to spend enough time on the field together to do it.

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