Giants name Jaxson Dart starting QB, bench Russell Wilson

The Giants are ready to unleash Jaxson Dart and hope for the kind of bullseye that turns around a spiraling season and saves jobs.

Head coach Brian Daboll informed his quarterbacks that Dart will replace the benched Russell Wilson as the Giants starter Sunday against the undefeated Chargers, ESPN reported Tuesday.

It is unclear what say owner John Mara and general manager Joe Schoen had in the decision. Schoen and Daboll present a united front, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if the front office wanted to wait longer for a more seasoned Dart.

Wilson’s tenure as the Giants starter and the patient developmental plan that was carved out for their rookie first-round draft pick lasted just three weeks in the sped-up NFL.

It was just nine days ago that Wilson, 36, had a vintage 450-yard passing performance that was supposed to take the pressure off.

But then the offense scored less than 10 points for the second time in three games in a loss to the Chiefs, Wilson was neutralized without the deep ball and awful in the red zone, and disenfranchised Giants fans cheered for Dart and booed Wilson as they subbed in and out at times during the home opener.  

“We want Dart!” chants filled MetLife Stadium. Could a banner-carrying plane saying similar have been far off if the status quo remained?

Dart, 22, hasn’t attempted a pass in his two regular-season appearances totaling six snaps. He carried the ball twice and handed off four times.

But Dart was a revelation during the preseason when he completed 32 of 47 passes for 372 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against a mix of starters, backups and out-of-the-leaguers. He also ran six times for 52 yards and a touchdown.

The Giants (0-3) already had promised the starting job to Wilson when he signed as a free agent, however. The pact kept Dart from taking first-team reps in training camp but didn’t come with a very long expiration date once the losses started piling up.

How could it?

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Daboll’s best path to cooling his hot seat is to get his handpicked quarterback Dart to perform like C.J. Stroud (Texans) and Jayden Daniels (Commanders) — two other quarterbacks whom he loved in the draft process — did as rookies in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Not only have Daboll’s Giants lost 13 of their last 14 games, but the quarterback (Daniel Jones) that he couldn’t get the most out of — and who voices throughout the organization blamed for two years’ worth of offensive failures — is an early MVP candidate with the Colts.

Daboll left the door to a quarterback change so wide open Monday that it would have been hard to turn back to Wilson. The Giants privately spent months excitedly hyping how much Wilson had left in the tank and the ripple effect of his relentlessly optimistic leadership approach inside the locker room.

It’s unclear what’s next for the 10-time Pro Bowler Wilson.

Is he willing to be a No. 2 quarterback? Will the Giants drop him behind James Winston, too? Will he ask to be released or traded to a team with an injury-based need — ignoring the writing on the wall that he might be out of chances to start after four teams in five years?

For Giants fans, the only thing that matters is the start of the Dart Era and a reason to continue caring about the 2025 season. He has been a subplot to the season since the moment that Schoen traded up to pick No. 25 to make him their future.

A quarterback can solve a lot of other issues on all sides of the ball, and the Giants already feel that they have a winning defense in place.  

Eli Manning replaced Kurt Warner in Week 11 of his 2004 rookie season and finished 1-6, highlighted by a momentum-generating flourish in the finale.

Jones replaced Manning in Week 3 of his 2019 rookie season and never looked better (until now, at least) than he did throwing the ball downfield under Pat Shurmur despite a 3-9 record.

Jones’ development wasn’t enough to save Shurmur from a firing.

Will Dart rewrite the Daboll Era? The story is starting sooner than anyone would have anticipated just a few weeks ago.