Giants stock report: Jaxson Dart hype builds, grading Evan Neal's performance

New York Times

12 hours ago

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Is the door to a Giants QB competition cracked open?
Well, coach Brian Daboll's reps' decision in the team's 31-12 victory over the New York Jets certainly briefly started the discussion when Daboll not only threw in rookie QB Jaxson Dart for one play with the starters but gave him a first-team series as well.
Advertisement
But not so fast.
Daboll shut down any discussion postgame by re-affirming that Russell Wilson is indeed the Giants starter as they 'keep developing' Dart. The one-off snap and subsequent series were just part of the development plan the Giants have for their rookie QB.
Once more, all four QBs saw the field Saturday night but Wilson and Dart played the majority of the first three quarters.
The Dart hype train took off after the rookie QB's stellar performance in his opening preseason game. It's not going back to the station after Dart's equally impressive second week. Dart completed 14-of-16 passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. He also added five rushing yards on two attempts with a TD
Dart's day had an interesting flow. In the middle of the second quarter, Dart came in for one rep with the starters after Wilson took the first snap of the series. On the rep, Dart hit TE Theo Johnson for a short pass, which he turned into a 30-yard gain. After the one play, Dart headed back to the sidelines as Wilson finished the series.
'You don't know what's going to happen,' Daboll said. 'Just be ready to go when your number's called.'
But on the Giants' next offensive series, Dart was back in with the ones. He went three-and-out here, taking a big hit on second down because of an offensive line mistake. On third down, Dart took off scrambling after Tyler Baron got around right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. While Dart nearly got away and sprung free for what could have been a long run, he was tripped up by Kingsley Jonathan.
Dart returned for two more series with the second-team offense in the second quarter, looking increasingly comfortable with each snap. He led an up-tempo, no-huddle offense and looked in command doing it. Both of those drives ended in touchdowns, including a beautiful 20-yard pass to TE Greg Dulcich. On the play, Dart faked a pitch to RB Dante Miller and then hit Dulcich running down the middle.
Dart ➡️ Dulcich for six!
📺: NBC4 pic.twitter.com/Mf1WW6OnLA
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 17, 2025
With Chris Manhertz and Daniel Bellinger both out, that opened the door for the next tight ends up to shine. Both Johnson and Dulcich started the game. Johnson has increasingly become a focal point of the offense and has had a strong camp after his rookie season ended prematurely due to injury. He was targeted just once Saturday but made the most of the opportunity — a 30-yard gain.
Advertisement
'He kind of came in the huddle and nobody kind of batted an eye,' Johnson said. 'It was like, 'All right, let's roll.' Like, no clue, no context or anything. Just the perfect setup for the play. Great arm angle, throw, just exactly kind of the look we're looking for that play.'
In the second half, Dart hit Dulcich for his one reception — the 20-yard touchdown.
'He just gave me a great ball,' Dulcich said. 'Great play calling set it up. The whole whole offense just did their job. That entire drive is a great drive and a great way to finish it off.'
What gets interesting here is how the 53-man shakes out and if Dulcich has done enough to earn a roster spot with Johnson, Manhertz, Bellinger and rookie Thomas Fidone figuring to take four spots.
While Wilson might be 36, a highlight part of his game is still producing highlight reels — his moon ball. Wilson threw two notable deep balls Saturday to the same receiver with different results.
The starting offense got more reps together in Saturday's win than they did in the first preseason game, with Wilson in at QB for four series. The veteran completed 4-of-7 passes for 108 yards.
In Wilson's first series, he launched the ball to undrafted rookie Beaux Collins, who caught the pass for an 80-yard gain. Wilson threw the ball before Collins was even open and the receiver nearly made it into the end zone. Two plays later, RB Devin Singletary scored on a 1-yard run.
RUSSELLLLLL WILSONNNNNN 🚀
📺: NBC4 pic.twitter.com/KFfa23SNVf
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 16, 2025
'He hit the one,' Daboll said. 'Hit the post. What a great ball by Russ, right? Eighty-yard bomb, dropped it in the bucket. Great protection by the offensive line off an action pass. Really just great vision by Russ to lay it up there.'
In the second quarter, on the series that Dart came in for one snap, Wilson again targeted Collins deep but it was intercepted.
Advertisement
'Just a little miscommunication,' Wilson said. 'I'll be better there for him and just we were on two different pages, I guess, but it was really more so just me really trusting him early. I kind of put the ball up right before he moved and, it's football.'
The CB2 competition appears alive and well despite injuries sidelining both top candidates over the last week. Flott returned to practice after dealing with an injury and with Deonte Banks sidelined, Flott got the CB2 reps. Flott played just two series, while some starters got more reps after. Daboll said that came down to the number of reps that they had in mind for each player.
'Flott had a couple more than we were going to give him,' Daboll said. 'I think he had 18, we were shooting for roughly 10-12 but they got into a little bit of a series.'
But Flott looked good and had an impressive PBU when he knocked the ball from Garrett Wilson's hands on third-and-2 in the red zone. That forced the Jets to settle for a field goal.
Yes, I'm slightly cheating here with stock neutral this week but hey, I'm the one writing this. Offensive line play can be tough to evaluate fully in the flow of a game but you know when it's really bad — we saw one instance of this from Neal on Saturday. But he also had good moments, like a pull block, which allowed Dart to scramble four yards.
And when talking about Neal, the important thing to contextualize is that this was his first game action at guard since college as he transitions from tackle. Neal came in at right guard for Greg Van Roten after two offensive series. He finished with three series with the ones and then got two series with the second-teamers, looking better with each one and he didn't seem to cause any notable negative noise.
The one obviously bad snap he played occurred in Dart's series with the starters, in which the offense went three-and-out. On second down, DT Phidarian Mathis blew past Neal, forcing Dart to throw an incompletion and take a hard hit.
Advertisement
'I played it like it was a run action pass, but the quarterback was dropping back,' Neal said. 'He read it. I went too far inside. He capitalized by going outside. So I really put that on me, just making a mistake.'
There's still plenty to see from Neal when it comes to his move inside after he missed the first preseason game with an injury.
The big caveat is that these guys are rookies. They're playing their first game snaps and have shown positives. But they're bound to have their welcome-to-the-NFL moment and we witnessed two of those Saturday.
As much as Abdul Carter has appeared to seamlessly transition to the NFL from college, he did have a moment when he looked like a rookie. In the second quarter, Carter got chipped by Jets TE Stone Smartt, sending him to the ground. While Carter quickly got up to continue the play, he ended back on the ground after the tackle shoved him down.
'(Stuff) just happens on the football field, but we got the win, so we're good,' Carter said.
Collins, meanwhile, had that beautiful touchdown pass, only to have an interception on the similar play later in the game.
Again, it's these guys' first (Collins) or second (Carter) game. Take a deep breath and remember that.
The rush defense was a sore point last season, allowing the sixth-most rushing yards in the NFL. And the Jets seemed to try to capitalize on that Saturday night. Yes, the other NY team has a good run game but the Giants allowed 141 yards on the ground on 33 carries.
This was most evident in the Jets' second offensive series as they rushed down the field in a 12-play, 52-yard drive. The Jets ran it 11 times. What was interesting here is that with all the ground success the Jets were having on the drive, Justin Fields threw to Wilson here on third-and-2 — which was broken up by Flott.
For as good as the pass rush is shaping up to be, this is going to be an area to watch.
(Photo of Dart: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today's puzzle