This article is from Scoop City, The Athletic\u2019s NFL newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive it directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n Jaxson Dart era: So it begins \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n He was supposed to sit for a redshirt year. Adapt to life as an NFL quarterback in New York, learn the playbook and improve on what he had lacked in college (progression-based reads and playing with anticipation, according to our draft guru\u00a0Dane Brugler<\/a>).<\/p>\n But after an 0-3 start, forget it.\u00a0How did we get here?\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s Giants beat reporter, Charlotte Carroll,\u00a0shared a full\u00a0<\/a>timeline<\/a>. As she wrote in\u00a0the story on the change itself<\/a>:<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcac\u00a0Charlotte:\u00a0\u201cThe actual decision to move to Dart came in somewhat bizarre fashion, as Giants coach Daboll said Monday afternoon the team was \u2018evaluating everything,\u2019 when asked if Wilson would still be the team\u2019s starter in Week 4.<\/p>\n \u201cBy the time Daboll typically speaks with reporters the day after games, he\u2019s usually committed to his QB decisions, but that wasn\u2019t the case Monday. Dart\u2019s promotion came Tuesday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n The 6-2, 223-pounder\u2019s impressive preseason certainly gave Daboll confidence. Across three games, the 25th overall pick in April\u2019s draft completed 32-of-47 passes (68 percent) for 372 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.<\/p>\n In the preseason, his 88.5 PFF passing grade ranked No. 4, behind only Patrick Mahomes, Brock Purdy and six-year vet Jarrett Stidham. And though most of Dart\u2019s snaps came against backups, he was without Malik Nabers on throws like this one (our fantasy experts tell me Nabers\u00a0will benefit from Dart\u2019s arrival<\/a>).<\/p>\n The temptation to promote Dart likely grew unbearable in Week 3. Boos rained down on Russell Wilson after the 36-year-old threw a\u00a0fourth-down pass out of the end zone<\/a>, seemingly preferring to protect his stat line rather than give his receivers a chance.<\/p>\n Is Dart truly ready?<\/p>\n This obviously feels like a knee-jerk reaction to save jobs in New York, something that rarely works in the NFL.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you kind of look at the history of football, it hasn\u2019t always served people well to just throw people in the fire,\u201d receiver and team captain Darius Slayton said two weeks ago. \u201cWe believe [Dart is] a good football player, but at the same time, this league is hard, this league is tough, and you see players get chewed up and spit out all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n But don\u2019t mistake this as a death sentence for Dart\u2019s career.\u00a0Seven of the top 10 passers in\u00a0Mike Sando\u2019s 2025 QB Tiers<\/a> had started by the middle of their rookie years, and for teams not much better than these Giants, like Matthew Stafford with the 2009 Lions or Joe Burrow with the 2020 Bengals.<\/p>\n The Bills originally had a similarly patient plan for Josh Allen\u2019s rookie season, but \u201clet him sit and develop\u201d lasted less than a week.The Bills, with Daboll as offensive coordinator,\u00a0inserted the rookie Allen in the second half of their Week 1 matchup<\/a>, a 47-3 blowout loss to the Ravens, and he\u2019s remained their starter since. It worked, though Allen deserves most of the credit.<\/p>\n Is Dart the next Allen?\u00a0Impossible to say, of course, but the desperate Giants believe Dart gives them the best chance to win games. They also need to see if the rookie can show the same promise as Allen did in 2018, especially since New York\u2019s 2026 first-round pick might be in the top five.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the worst play, though I wish they\u2019d prepped the 22-year-old more, as Dart \u201chas barely worked with the first-team offense in practice,\u201d wrote<\/a>\u00a0Dan Duggan,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s Giants beat reporter.<\/p>\n Why now?<\/p>\n Maybe wait until after\u00a0the Week 4 matchup against the Chargers\u2019 elite defense? Those guys just beat future Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 and intercepted 12-year veteran Geno Smith three times in Week 2, after all.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcac\u00a0Dan<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not as if the Giants can only play Dart against the bad defenses. Eli Manning survived a 0 quarterback rating against the vaunted Ravens defense during his rookie season. If Dart has the intangibles the Giants believe he possesses, he\u2019ll overcome whatever adversity he faces this season. There are no soft landing spots in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n Most importantly, Dart should have better protection than Wilson was afforded, as the latter saw 48 pressures in three weeks, seventh-most in the NFL.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcac\u00a0Charlotte:\u00a0\u201cFortunately for Dart, it looks like he\u2019ll have a healthy Andrew Thomas protecting his blindside, as the star left tackle returned Sunday night to play 25 snaps. He exited the game feeling \u2018just fine,\u2019 according to Daboll.\u201d<\/p>\n Reminder: The Giants are 3-17 in the last 20 games Thomas has missed, and since 2022, they are 15-17-1 with him on the field. Thomas\u2019 84.4 pass-blocking grade in Week 3 is a positive sign for Dart, and the oft-injured left tackle is arguably the second-most important player in New York.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for Dart?<\/p>\n Daboll had a reputation as a quarterback guru, based on his work in Buffalo. Can he recreate the magic with Dart?\u00a0The coach has just bet his job on it<\/a>.<\/p>\n Expect more zone-reads and run-pass option plays, as well as a faster-paced Giants offense, similar to Dart\u2019s high-tempo offense at Ole Miss. Dart doesn\u2019t have the moonball of Wilson, but showed consistent improvement with his deep passing (a few were dropped) in the preseason, and his mobility should help open up the Giants\u2019 playbook.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for both coach and quarterback, outside of a Week 5 game in New Orleans,\u00a0I\u2019m not sure New York wins another game\u00a0before December<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over to Mike Sando for a moment.<\/p>\n Mike Sando\u2019s Pick: The legacy of Wilson<\/p>\n Russell Wilson, Hall of Famer? That question was looking more like an exclamation point five years ago, but without question, Wilson\u2019s legacy has taken major hits since leaving Seattle for ill-fated stops with Denver, Pittsburgh and, now, the Giants.<\/p>\n As a Hall of Fame selector, I think Wilson\u2019s candidacy will benefit from the passage of time. The past several seasons should factor to the extent it\u2019s relevant that Wilson never succeeded outside the framework Pete Carroll built for him in Seattle, but it should not disproportionately define his legacy, either.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it\u2019s helpful to compare Wilson\u2019s run with Seattle to the primary runs for three other dual-threat quarterbacks already enshrined in Canton.<\/p>\n Steve Young\u2019s 1991-99 starting run with the 49ers, Fran Tarkenton\u2019s second run with the Vikings (1972-78) and Roger Staubach\u2019s starting run with the Cowboys (1971-79) are particularly relevant because, like Wilson, all three were highly efficient winners on teams with elite coaches and elite defenses.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll put in much more work on Wilson\u2019s candidacy once he retires and we get into the five-year waiting period before he\u2019s eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Today, I\u2019ll leave you with the table below, comparing those relevant QB starting runs.<\/p>\n 2025 front office rankings<\/p>\n What is success for an NFL general manager? Since only one of 32 can win a Lombardi each season, that’s not a fair measuring stick. It shouldn’t be limited to offseason moves during free agency or the draft either, since what looks like a “dream team” could just resemble 2011’s acquisitions-heavy Eagles going 8-8.<\/p>\n Given the league’s success in achieving parity for seemingly everyone but the Jets,\u00a0the most useful barometer of front-office success is playoff appearances.<\/p>\n It seems the NFL agrees, as when\u00a0The Athletic’s Jeff Howe asked 29 general managers, head coaches and high-ranking team executives to\u00a0rank the league’s top front offices<\/a>, their votes aligned closely with playoff appearances.<\/p>\n Only two of the top 13 vote-getters \u2014 the Seahawks and 49ers \u2014 missed last year’s postseason. Click here to read the full rankings<\/a>, which left\u00a0one team off the list despite three playoff appearances since 2020. Hint: Their owner\u00a0is currently celebrated more in Green Bay<\/a>\u00a0than in his team’s\u00a0city.<\/p>\n Extra Points<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcda Committed to excellence.\u00a0James Boyd shares the\u00a0details behind Daniel Jones’ breakout season<\/a>\u00a0that has the Colts 3-0 for the first time since 2009. First in, last out, of course.<\/p>\n \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa A 10-day stay in Europe?\u00a0No vacation for the Vikings’ operations staff, who are\u00a0managing the unprecedented overseas journey<\/a>\u00a0to face the Steelers in Ireland and the Browns in England. “Pallets of water, Gatorade, and yes, ranch dressing have already been delivered,” explains Alec Lewis.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udf99\u00a0Talk with Arch Manning.\u00a0“Scoop City Podcast” co-host Chase Daniel shares what he learned from\u00a0hanging with football’s most famous QB nephew in Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcfd YouTube x NFL?\u00a0The league is embracing content creators<\/a>\u00a0on the streaming giant, as Jourdan Rodrigue writes: Roger Goodell said he doesn\u2019t know whether a streamer will get a Super Bowl in the 2030s, but allowed that \u201canything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcb8 Why are NFL franchises more valuable than soccer clubs?\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0explains<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u25b6\ufe0f Yesterday’s most-clicked:\u00a0The Athletic’s\u00a0Week 4 Power Rankings<\/a>.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udceb Enjoyed this read? Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Athletic’s free NFL newsletter in your inbox.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nThe Broncos, led by\u00a0general manager George Paton<\/a>, were the only team without multiple playoff appearances since 2020 to receive votes.
\nThe teams with playoff appearances in at least four of the past five seasons \u2014 Chiefs (five), Bills (five), Buccaneers (five), Ravens, Steelers, Eagles, Rams and Packers \u2014 all received first or second-place votes.<\/p>\n