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“Better Player and Athlete Than Russell Wilson” – NFL Analyst Disapproves Russell Wilson As Giants QB1 Over Jaxson Dart, Compares the Situation to 2009 Season

Jaxson Dart's impressive training camp and preseason has caught the eye of experts

Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have recently named Russell Wilson as their new starting quarterback. Wilson has been the frontrunner for the role ever since he landed in the Big Apple, but even so, he was in a fierce competitive battle with veteran Jameis Winston and rookie Jaxson Dart.

While Winston has since been relegated to a third-string QB due to the quick development shown by Dart in training camp, Wilson may be lucky to hold on to his spot under center. NFL analyst Mike Tannenbaum shares his opinion on why he feels the Giants should have rolled with Dart instead of Wilson as the starter.

Russell Wilson is the Giants' starter. Nothing, barring injury, was going to change that before the opener against the Commanders. The powers that be believe he gives them the best chance to win, his veteran presence capable of elevating those around him. So, he’s QB 1.

And that… pic.twitter.com/3uK6ZwiEzy
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) August 17, 2025

Mike Tannenbaum Feels Dart Should Have Been the Starter

Former general manager and executive in the NFL turned analyst, Mike Tannenbaum, would have liked to see rookie Jaxson Dart under center to begin the season for the Giants. As per the analyst, Dart offers a higher upside than the former Super Bowl-winning signal caller, i.e., Russell Wilson.

“Jaxson Dart is a better player and a better athlete than Russell Wilson.” Said Tannenbaum. “Look, I understand there are going to be growing pains, but he is somebody that has energized this franchise. He understands what to do. Russell Wilson, to me, is an athletically diminished player. He was sacked at a rate 31% above the league average.”

"Jaxson Dart is a better player and he's a better athlete than Russell Wilson."@RealTannenbaum shares his thoughts on the Giants' QBs 👀 pic.twitter.com/YpJjCbVQj4
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 19, 2025

There are a couple of strong points that lend credibility to what Tannenbaum is saying. First and foremost, Dart is coming off an exceptional couple of years of college football.

In 2023, Dart led Ole Miss to an 11-2 record as he completed 65.1% of his passes, threw for 3,364 yards, which included 23 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Last year, he performed even better as Ole Miss went 10-3, but Dart’s completion percentage rose to 69.2%, while throwing for 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns against just 6 picks.

Factor in Dart’s preseason performances so far, and there is solid ground for favoring the rookie over the veteran. In two preseason games, this is how both quarterbacks have fared.

Player	C/ATT	Passing Yards	TD	INT	Passer Rating
Jaxson Dart	26/35	291	2	0	114.6
Russell Wilson	10/14	136	0	1	72.7

Jaxson Dart through two preseason games:

🎯 26/35
🎯 320 total yards
🎯 3 total TDs
🎯 0 turnovers
🎯 117.7 passer rating pic.twitter.com/7D3ke2epo4
— PFF (@PFF) August 17, 2025

Tannenbaum Jogs Down Memory Lane to the 2009 Season

To put forth his point of placing trust in Dart, Tannenbaum alluded to the 2009 NFL season when rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez led the New York Jets all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

However, whether that was the result of Sanchez’s play is rather debatable, considering the Jets managed to go 8-7 in the regular season, in which Sanchez had just a 53.8% completion rate, throwing for 2,444, which included only 12 touchdowns. On the contrary, he had 20 picks and a passer rating of just 63.0.

In the postseason, Sanchez had better numbers, but his overall play was still not the main factor for the Jets’ success. As a matter of fact, Sanchez had quite a bit of help from his offensive weapons and the defense as well.

Should the Giants Have Named Dart As the Starter in Week 1?

Starting a rookie quarterback can be a double-edged sword. At times, there have been some excellent performances from rookies under center, while at other times it has felt like a horrendous decision.

Great insight from Brandon Brown on @JaxsonDart pic.twitter.com/Tt32dYox89
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) August 19, 2025

Even with a small sample size of the top two draft picks from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, we can ascertain the fact that there is no right or wrong answer. For example, Bryce Young was the overall number one pick from the 2023 NFL draft, and C.J. Stroud was number two overall.

Both rookies started for the Panthers and Texans, respectively, and went on to have contrasting seasons. While Young struggled with the Panthers and is still trying to dig himself out of a hole in Carolina, Stroud was named the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year as he led Houston to the Divisional round.

Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels went through a similar situation in 2024 when Williams, the number one overall pick who was expected to bring the Bears close to playoff contention, ended up being a bust as Chicago fell to a 5-12 record. On the other hand, Daniels marched the Commanders, a team not expected to do anything significant, all the way within striking distance of a Super Bowl appearance.

Then again, there is the prime example of what Patrick Mahomes has been able to achieve with the Kansas City Chiefs after sitting on the bench during his rookie year and learning behind veteran Alex Smith.

In that sense, perhaps the Giants’ decision to go with the experienced Wilson might not be a bad one after all. It will not only give Dart additional time to come to terms with the professional league, but it will also help him settle down before he takes over the reins of the Giants’ offense.

Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images

Jaxson Dart

New York Giants

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Russell Wilson

Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!