The Russell Wilson Era with the Giants will last at least two starts.
After he left the door slightly ajar to making a quarterback change in the immediate aftermath of a surprising season-opening dud, head coach Brian Daboll revealed Monday that Wilson will start Sunday against the Cowboys in a virtual must-win on the road.
So, why the hesitation in recommitting to Wilson after losing 21-6 to the Commanders?
“It’s an emotional game, it’s a tough game,” Daboll said. “In terms of making any of those decisions — really at any position or schematic changes — I’d like to do it with a clear head and watch the tape. That game doesn’t fall on Russell Wilson. We’ve got to do a better job collectively — coaching, playing — but Russ will be the starter.”
It seems like a no-brainer considering that the Giants committed to Wilson, 36, as their starter in March — before the team ever practiced or finalized its draft plans — in conjunction with signing the 10-time Pro Bowler to a one-year, $10.5 million free agent contract
And then the Giants spent the next six months publicly and privately praising the co-captain Wilson’s leadership as well as his practice performance — even as rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart simultaneously passed every test to claim the No. 2 quarterback spot ahead of Jameis Winston.
“I think that’s the natural thing these days in the sport of football, which is unfortunate at all levels,” receiver Darius Slayton said after going without a catch in Week 1. “Everybody wants ‘new’ as soon as they think that things aren’t going well.
“But the reality is that things take time and not everything is just a 9-1-1 situation. We have good coaches, we have a good quarterback in Russell Wilson and it’s one week. If you kind of look at the history of football, it hasn’t always served people well to just throw people in the fire.”
Maybe completing 17-of-37 passes for 168 yards was just one stinker from Wilson, who was sacked twice, hit eight times and pressured 13 times.
But there were signs of what has caused three Hall of Fame-caliber coaches — Pete Carroll, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin — to move on from Wilson in the past four seasons. Most notably, getting jittery in the pocket.
“Russell’s first thing to do, consistently, versus any form of pressure: drops his eyes and looks at the rush,” ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky wrote on X after watching the Giants-Commanders film. “That, to me, screams — time to move on.”
Wilson experienced the third-largest drop-off in the NFL last season (-31.6 percent) in completion percentage when not under pressure (72.6 percent) compared to when he faced pressure (41.1 percent), per NextGenStats.
He attempted 24.4 percent of his passes last season while on the run — the second-highest rate in the league by a starting quarterback since 2016.
All bets on Wilson’s job security are off if the offense again has trouble reaching the end zone and the Giants start 0-2.
Especially with a prime-time home opener against the AFC champion Chiefs and a potentially restless crowd awaiting in Week 3.
Remember, the Giants benched franchise icon Eli Manning after an 0-2 start to go with rookie first-round pick Daniel Jones in 2019.
If owner John Mara signed off on that decision, it’s hard to imagine he would stand in the way of replacing the rental Wilson with Dart if that’s what both Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen want.
Daboll and Schoen were among the Bills decision-makers who planned to sit rookie Josh Allen in 2018 — until a 47-3 season-opening loss to the Ravens prompted the dawn of The Allen Era in Week 2 at Nathan Peterman’s expense.
“I have confidence in Russ, and we’re doing everything we can do each week to develop Jaxson,” Daboll said. “He spends a lot of time in the building. He spends a lot of time after practice going through things that he needs to go through to prepare himself to be ready if he gets called upon.”
The Giants had a package of plays installed for Dart that were never used in Week 1.
Inserting Dart behind an overmatched offensive line without a supportive running game isn’t going to help him build confidence, so it’s unclear what will be deemed the right spot to debut him.
“Urgency doesn’t always mean ‘Oh, we have to fix this and fix that, change this and change that,’ ” Slayton said. “No, sometimes you have the right people, you have the right things established, you have the right culture, you have the right everything aligned, and it’s just a matter of people doing better. Doesn’t take massive changes, doesn’t take a brain trust, doesn’t take calculus.”
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