6 Major Giants OTA Takeaways: Dennard Wilson’s Challenge and Jaxson Dart’s Growth, and Kicking a Concern

Accountability has officially returned to New York.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) participates in a drill during organized team activities at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have put six of their allotted OTAs in the books through two weeks, aiming to get better each and every day in their learning and execution of the new systems being installed.

Although the media have had access to only two of the six practices, we’ve compiled a list of six takeaways based on our own observations and on what’s been reported by the team’s in-house media.  

Wilson’s Challenge

Remember how, in years past, the defense, despite its talent, was flat-out sloppy, with blown assignments, miscommunications, giving up late-game leads, missing tackles, and, at times, having too many men on the field (or, in some cases, not enough)?

Those days are thankfully coming to an end, and that’s thanks to Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, who isn’t ain’t playing around.

Wilson, as revealed by the Giants’ in-house media, isn’t giving guys passes for making mistakes in practice as other coaches before him might have been guilty of doing. He’s apparently from the school where you play as you practice, which means that if you screw up in practice, you stand to hurt the team and therefore don’t deserve to remain on the field.

That little nugget actually comes courtesy of the Giants’ in-house media, who happened to witness something where Wilson ended up pulling guys off the field if they messed up.

Kicking Competition

It might very well be that the three Giants kickers are nailing all their field goal attempts when practices are closed to the media, but that hasn’t been the case in the last two practices open to the media.

Last week, Jason Sanders and Ben Sauls each missed two of their attempts. This week, it was more of the same as Sanders and Sauls once again missed a pair of attempts.

It’s hard to say for sure if there is a problem with the snap and the hold, but suffice it to say that if they’re not nailing their attempts despite head coach John Harbaugh’s pledge for the kickers to try field goals every day in practice,  what’s going to happen when there is a rush or a pressure situation where the stakes are much higher?

Working Under Center

Last season, quarterback Jaxson Dart barely worked under center, a decision made to help him get comfortable with the speed of the pro game.

But if Dart is to advance in his career as an NFL quarterback, he’s going to have to learn to be as comfortable under center as he is in the shotgun.

That was among the things the Giants worked on in OTA No. 6. There were some nice pass plays made as a result of that work, though remember, OTAs do not include live contact so it’s important to take things with a grain of salt.

Still, it’s good to see the Giants trying to get Dart comfortable to working more under center now so that he can hit the ground running come the preseason.

Red Zone Focus

Long-time readers know that in the past, we’ve referred to the red zone as the “dead zone” for this Giants team, and with good reason.

Last season, the Giants ranked 27th in red zone efficiency with a 47.5% conversion rate; their 28 touchdowns tied them for 21st.

The red zone woes weren’t just limited to last year. Since 2022, the Giants have posted an overall 49.7% conversion rate, 29th in the league, with a league-worst 79.5% scoring rate.

That obviously has to improve in a hurry if this team is serious about competing for a postseason spot, so it was good to see a practice that put a heavy focus on that.

Injuries Stink

New York Giants wide receiver Gunner Olszewski is feared to have suffered a torn Achilles tendon. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

It doesn’t matter who they hit or when they hit; injuries are just the pits. And while it was hoped that with the hiring of Harbaugh, who also brought with him some sports science people from his days at Baltimore, as well as had the team hire a new athletic trainer, the Giants have now had three straight Achilles injuries, two of which came on the grass.

The latest is receiver Gunner Olszewski, who, like defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris before him and undrafted rookie free agent Thaddeus Dixon before him, went down with a non-contact injury, grasping at the back of his right leg.

This isn’t to blame the medical people, as their job is to treat injuries when they happen. But good golly, three major injuries in three weeks to three positions where the depth is on shaky ground? Not good.

Speaking of Injuries

New York Giants cornerback Colton Hood has been limited in team drills the last two weeks. | John Jones-Imagn Images

When cornerback Colton Hood was drafted last month, Harbaugh spoke of his expectation for Hood to compete for a starting job.

That hasn’t been able to happen so far this spring as Hood is dealing with an undisclosed issue that has vastly limited his on-field participation in team drills.

That has left Greg Newsome and Deonte Banks to battle it out for CB2, though it’s also probably fair to say that Paulson Adebo isn’t necessarily safe from losing his job.

But back to Hood. It’s never a good thing when a rookie has to miss any significant practice time, especially in the spring.

We saw how last year defensive lineman Darius Alexander missed most of the spring and never really caught up, even in training camp, when he was deemed healthy, though he finally started to turn the corner toward the back end of the season.

Hopefully the same doesn’t happen with Hood, who has a legitimate chance to win a starting job if he can get on the field and show himself worthy.

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