Giants Minicamp Notes: Jaxson Dart proves he belongs, but there's no QB controversy

You see fights often in training camp. Players are in full pads. Temperatures near or eclipse triple digits. Bang into the same person for two weeks and the last thing you want to do is bang into them again. One pushes. Another pushes. Fight.

During the offseason program, though? Condensed, padless workouts resembling summer camp? No. Players don’t fight then.

That’s what made that brawl between Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns, James Hudson, and Jermaine Eluemunor so fascinating. Granted, maybe it’s exactly what New York needed.

“I think just people are just sick and tired of not being good and it all starts in the trenches,” Eluemunor said.

The Giants are coming off a 3-14 season. They have just two winning seasons since 2016. They have the worst record in the NFL since 2017. They haven’t won the NFC East since 2011. Something needed to change.

Maybe, as Eluemunor said, players having enough is exactly that.

Here’s the recap from the Giants offseason program, which ended on Wednesday with the culmination of their two-day minicamp.

The not-so green rookie

There was a book on Jaxson Dart after the Giants drafted him: He needed time. Just about every scout, coach, and talent evaluator I touched base with believed, coming out of Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss offense, Dart’s path to success involved sitting and watching a full year.

The biggest quarterback takeaway from the offseason program is that Dart is not nearly as green as many believed.

Context: This does not mean Dart is ready to start. It doesn’t mean he lit East Rutherford on fire with his practices in organized team activities and minicamp. There is no quarterback controversy and zero chance (barring injury) he beats out Russell Wilson for the starting job. There were bad days, bad passes. There were more than a few rookie mistakes. And these were only in the media-open practices. There were assuredly plenty more in those closed. The rookie is still a work in progress.

But I feel pretty confident writing that Dart could start a game if he had to in early September. There's confidence and moxie about him. He’s so comfortable with his teammates and on the field. There is plenty, plenty he needs to learn, but at no point this offseason did Dart resemble a player swimming or in over his head. It’s cliché, but true: He looked like he belonged. I’ve covered plenty of bad quarterbacks (even those highly drafted) to know what the opposite looks like. That was not the case with Dart.

It’s anyone’s guess right now if he’ll be good, but on a base level: He belongs. That matters considering the scouting reports on where he was developmentally.

The perfect scenario for the Giants is still Dart watching and learning. Ideally, Wilson plays, and plays well, affording the Giants the opportunity to put Dart on the field only when they believe he is fully ready. Seldom do things go according to plan, though. And if they veer off course, Dart might not be the handicap on the field in Year 1 many believed.

The Giants would still have to build everything around him and do everything they can to make it easy for him, but I do believe Dart could take the field and not be a liability or detriment to those around him.

QB1

There is no quarterback controversy because it’s very obvious Wilson is the best quarterback on the roster right now. His decade-plus of experience is so obvious in the way he commands and orchestrates the offense. He is not the Wilson who was an MVP hopeful for so many years in Seattle. He might not even be the same athlete he was with the Broncos or Steelers. It’s hard to view him as a top-20 or 25 quarterback in the NFL at the moment, but the Giants’ aren't looking or hoping for any of that. They want competence under center. Wilson is more than capable of that at this stage of his career.

The one thing Wilson can still do, although not as regular as early in his career, is attack a defense deep. Those moon balls are very much in his rotation and he displayed them more than a few times over the last few weeks. The one to Theo Johnson on Tuesday was perfect. There were a couple to Darius Slayton, too, in OTAs. That’s been an area missing from the Giants offense in recent years.

Maybe it was the second neck injury or the knee surgery, but Daniel Jones deep throwing deterioration was among the most alarming developments last year. You saw it in the offseason program and training camp. It never got better in the regular season. Underthrowing was never a problem for him early in his career, but in 2024 he simply couldn’t consistently attack that level of the field.

That limited Malik Nabers. It limited Jalin Hyatt. It limited Slayton. Wilson should bring that aspect of the Giants offense back.

He seems to be that good

These are padless practices. The defense is always at an advantage in those situations. Make note of that, but in no way should it be used to discredit what Abdul Carter has done this offseason. He is a monster. There was a series (second offense versus second defense) where Carter single-handedly ruined three of the four snaps. He was in the backfield and on Dart before he hit his back foot.

It wasn’t just the second group, though. He tormented the starters and Wilson, too. His speed and bend are jarringly impressive. He also has power, too. The Giants moved him all over the field this offseason, featuring a pass rush of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns outside, with Carter coming in the middle. The Giants’ line couldn’t stop it, granted they were without Andrew Thomas, Greg Van Roten, and Jon Runyan Jr.

It’s going to be fun watching Carter when the pads come on. There’s no reason to believe it will hold back his dominance.

Other standouts

Slayton, mentioned above, enjoyed a really nice summer. He and Wilson have found quick chemistry and having a quarterback who can put it where it needs to be 20-plus yards down the field has the wideout thriving. He seems to be in a really good headspace, too, after the Giants committed to him this offseason.

Just about everyone inside the Giants building has spent a portion of this offseason talking about how high they are on tight end Theo Johnson. He always had the physical attributes (6-foot-6, 259 pounds; 87 athleticism score at NFL Combine) you can’t coach, but the knock on him was you never noticed him on the field (in college). There were flashes in the NFL last year, but 29 catches for 331 yards and a touchdown aren’t anything to go nuts over.

You saw a bit of why the Giants are so giddy throughout the offseason. Johnson was very active in a couple OTAs and made that touchdown grab from Wilson in the first minicamp practice.

Receiver Jalin Hyatt also flashed in OTAs. He, per Slayton, is 15 pounds heavier. He suffered a non-serious injury early on Tuesday and Daboll took him out. He didn’t practice on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how the Giants use Hyatt when Nabers returns.

Quick hits and tidbits

- The Giants held a handful of their players out for the entirety of the offseason program, including Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence, and Malik Nabers. Seldom working were Runyan, Van Roten and Bobby Okereke. Tyler Nubin and Jevon Holland also were in-and-out of the lineup. Thomas and Lawrence make sense because they suffered major injuries last year. Nabers is a bit more surprising. Daboll said he was dealing with a foot injury that stems back to his days at LSU. What’s odd is that foot injury didn’t stop Nabers from taking part in the Pro Bowl activities.

- The Giants clearly have their three quarterbacks in Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Dart. What’s curious is where that leaves Tommy DeVito. They won’t keep him on the 53-man roster. They’ll likely try to get him to the practice squad. Could another team sign him to theirs instead? Would DeVito choose to leave? One potential development: If the Giants are confident in Dart being their No. 2 quarterback, they could look to trade Winston. There are more than a few quarterback-needy teams out there who could use him. That would open a path for DeVito to be the third quarterback this year, and Dart’s backup next.

- I have a very uneasy feeling on the offensive line. They’re fine enough if everyone stays healthy, but it seems, yet again, they are putting so much faith in Thomas staying healthy and returning to form – a major gamble considering he’s missed most of the last two seasons. It’s Defcon 1 if he goes down. Hudson had a very, very rough offseason program. It’s hard to feel confident in him as a starter. Rookie Marcus Mbow might be a good player some day, but he’s a development in Year 1. The Giants would surely slide Eluemunor over if Thomas goes down for the third time in as many years, but that just creates a hole at right tackle. Something to monitor.

- The starting cornerback job opposite Paulson Adebo is wide open. The Giants rotated Cor’Dale Flott and Deonte Banks throughout the summer. They’re not handing anything to Banks, the former first-round pick, after a wildly underwhelming 2024. It’s hard to say which player has an edge after the offseason program, but expect this to continue into training camp.

- For all the players the Giants had on a rehab program, Adebo wasn’t one of them. That’s major considering he’s coming back from a broken femur. I didn’t notice him much throughout the offseason program. That’s good for a cornerback. Without the aid of replay those players only pop if they’re routinely getting beat.