Russell Wilson has been the clear starting quarterback throughout New York Giants’ OTAs, and he turned heads at a national level on June 9.
The Giants’ social media team initially posted some highlights of Wilson hitting four different offensive weapons for touchdowns on Monday, June 9, captioning the post: “Have a day, Russ 🔥.” Within minutes, those clips from the NYG practice were quickly shared by NFL media site B/R Gridiron.
I don’t know what is cleaner…the passes or Russ in the Big Blue 😮💨
(via @Giants)
B/R Gridiron also commented: “I don’t know what is cleaner…the passes or Russ in the Big Blue 😮💨.”
Within the highlight reel of clips, Wilson hits running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., wide receiver Jalin Hyatt — who has been having a hot spring — tight end Theo Johnson, and wide receiver Darius Slayton for touchdowns. The B/R Gridiron post already has over 750 likes in under four hours.
Can Russell Wilson Prove Giants GM Joe Schoen Right in 2025?
Giants general manager Joe Schoen has not been shy in voicing that he feels this roster is much more talented than the product we’ve seen over the past couple of seasons, particularly on offense.
Without actually saying it outright, Schoen has pushed all the blame onto the quarterback position when doing this, and he may even be right. But 2025 is the year this supposedly talented group of skill position players will have to prove it — without QBs like Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito weighing them down.
Sure, Wilson may very well be in the twilight of his illustrious NFL career, but he’s also shown that he can still be a very capable signal-caller with the right pieces around him.
Just last year, he made the playoffs, starting the bulk of the games for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that did not have strong wide receivers or OL play. In Denver, he put up 6,500-plus passing yards over two seasons despite a lack of team success.
No one is saying Wilson will lead the Giants to a Super Bowl in 2025, but his presence should allow president and CEO John Mara to determine if Schoen is just blowing smoke, or if he actually assembled a fairly strong roster that’s just missing the most important position.
If the latter proves to be true, even if Wilson has mixed results in the win/loss column, that could set the stage for a late 2025 and full 2026 transition over to Jaxson Dart. And, yes, in this scenario, Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll would likely keep their jobs for at least one more year.
Russell Wilson Has Outplayed Jaxson Dart & Jameis Winston at Giants OTAs
Early on this spring, Wilson has been a step or two ahead of Dart and Jameis Winston, who has turned into an immediate trade candidate.
Through his professionalism, accuracy, leadership and crispness, Wilson has quickly displayed that his 10 Pro Bowl resume has merit. But that doesn’t mean he’ll save the Giants in 2025.
The media were most recently present for the June 5 practice at Giants OTAs, and the first-team offense had its ups and downs against a formidable Big Blue defense.
“[Practice] featured plenty of pressure packages for the Giants’ defense, leading to a lot of disruption and splash plays from [Brian] Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and rookie Abdul Carter,” North Jersey.com beat reporter Art Stapleton wrote on June 5.
“All would have been credited with at least one sack during multiple team periods, forcing the offense to accept too many broken plays, dump-offs to the backs and hurried throws,” he continued, adding: “Save for one beautiful deep ball from Russell Wilson to Darius Slayton for a long touchdown.”
As you can see, there are still issues to work through, but Wilson’s deep ball opens up the offense in ways Jones’ arm never could.
