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From Big Blue View
Other Giant observations
Jaxson Dart nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week | Giants.com
Dart completed 13 of 20 passes for 111 pass yards on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, including a three-yard shovel pass to tight end Theo Johnson for his first career passing touchdown. He opened the game with a 15-yard rushing touchdown as part of 10 carries for 54 yards. This is the third consecutive week a Giants rookie has been nominated for the honor. Cam Skattebo, a fourth-round draft choice who is now fifth among all NFL rookies in yards from scrimmage, was up for it in Weeks 2 and 3.
Andrew Thomas, franchise left tackle
Giants found their blueprint for success vs. Chargers, but is it repeatable? | The Athletic
Dart was sacked five times, but that wasn’t necessarily a reflection of his pass protection. There was a pre-snap protection error that led to an unblocked sack off the right edge in the second quarter. Three of the sacks came after Dart held the ball too long due to indecision or coverage, with him twice getting sacked as he tried in vain to scramble away. The fifth sack was due to a breakdown on the right side of the line.
The impact of left tackle Andrew Thomas’ return can’t be overstated. After playing 28 snaps last week in his season debut, Thomas played all 76 offensive snaps on Sunday.
According to TruMedia, seven of Dart’s 10 rush attempts were designed and three of them were scrambles. (Wilson, by comparison, had six designed rush attempts in three weeks.) On those designed runs, Dart gained 31 yards, and he scored from 15 yards out on a quarterback draw, as you can see above. The Giants opened rushing lanes for him through the use of motion and fakes, and they generally put him into position to succeed on those plays.
New York also built counters off of Dart’s involvement in the run game. The shovel-pass touchdown to Theo Johnson came off very similar-looking action to Dart’s first run of the game, where he faked rolling to his right and then came back to the middle for a run.
Jaxson Dart means too much to the Giants to take this many hits | New York Daily News
Daboll, Dart and the Giants have to find a way for the rookie to contribute without risking his body so often. It’s going to be tricky, because Dart’s mobility and improvisation are two of his best qualities, and Daboll doesn’t want to prevent his rookie from using them.
“You never want your quarterback taking a lot of hits, but certain quarterbacks are going to play a certain way,” Daboll said. “And there’s a lot of good ones in this league that play a certain way. We’re going to try to do everything we can to protect Jaxson. I don’t question when he’s got the ball in his hands, him making the right decision. You can see maybe a play and say, ‘Hey, think about sliding here, bud.’ He can do a good job, too, with throwing the ball away sometimes and avoiding some of those hits. But yeah, you don’t want your quarterback taking a bunch of them.”
Jaxson Dart Leads Giants to First Win in First Start, But It’ll Get Tougher From Here | FOX Sports
That poise will come in handy considering the obstacles the Giants will face. After a game in New Orleans against the winless Saints next Sunday, they’ll see the undefeated, defending champion Eagles twice in three weeks. In between, they play at Denver. Then they’ll come home for the 49ers. And the schedule doesn’t exactly get any easier in the second half.
Daboll knew all that, obviously, when he benched veteran Russell Wilson and threw his hand-picked franchise quarterback into the fire — a desperation move with the Giants 0-3 and the coach fighting for his job. And who knows if Dart can actually save it? Daboll, who helped groom Josh Allen as a rookie in Buffalo seven years ago, has said all along the road for his rookie quarterback will be hard.
Darius Alexander is starting to come on
NFL Week 4: Rookie Team of the Week | PFF
Quarterback: Jaxson Dart, New York Giants – 50.7. Despite leading the Giants to their first win of the season in his starting debut, Jaxson Dart had an uneven performance as a passer. He completed 13 of his 23 pass attempts for just 111 yards and a touchdown, though he never put the ball in harm’s way, registering zero turnover-worthy plays. Dart was much better running the ball, as he ran 12 times for 95 yards and another score en route to a 63.2 PFF rushing grade.
Edge Defender: Abdul Carter, New York Giants – 90.2 After showing flashes of why the Giants made him the third pick in the draft, Abdul Carter was a menace against the Chargers. The Penn State product amassed nine pressures and a whopping five quarterback hits on 35 pass-rushing snaps en route to a 92.1 pass-rush grade.
Top 15 NFL rookies through Week 4 | PFF
4. RB Cam Skattebo, New York Giants – 83.7. Skattebo played a season-high 52 offensive snaps against the Chargers. He gained 79 rushing yards on 25 carries, including a 16-yard gain up the middle early in the first quarter. He tallied four first downs and forced three missed tackles, giving him 11 in his past three games. The fourth-rounder produced 82.3% of his yards after contact.
Skattebo remains the NFL’s highest-graded running back through Week 4, ranking in the top three in both PFF rushing (82.3) and receiving (79.0) grades. Skattebo now has 181 yards rushing across 48 carries, with five gains of 10-plus yards. Most of his carries (36) have come in zone schemes. He has caught 12 of 15 passes for 98 yards and four first downs.
Big Mike talks Yankee baseball with Eli
NFL Week 5 Power Rankings 2025: How all 32 teams stack up | ESPN.com
Biggest issue on offense: Red zone offense. Nobody has been worse in the red zone this season than the Giants, in part because their offensive line can’t get any push at the line of scrimmage. It’s an extension of last season, when the Giants were also ranked 32nd in the league at 43.2%. Amazingly, it has only gotten worse. The Giants have converted just 26.7% of their opportunities in the red zone into touchdowns this season. “A work in progress,” coach Brian Daboll said recently. The hope is that new starting quarterback Jaxson Dart and his legs can help
NFLPA interim executive director David White had a pre-planned visit to the Giants today, according to union sources. While there, he met with Giants players and John Mara and raised the issues surrounding MetLife Stadium’s turf history.
This week’s opponent
Saints guard Cesar Ruiz to miss 4-6 weeks with ankle injury, per report | Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints has suffered another loss on offensive line as news came out that guard Cesar Ruiz will likely be out 4 to 6 weeks with a high-ankle sprain according to a report from Ian Rapoport.
Ruiz suffered the injury to his right ankle towards the end of the first half. While he was initially able to go to the sideline on his own, Ruiz was carted off to the locker room shortly after. He will likely be placed on IR soon, however depending on the severity of his injury, Ruiz could be designated as eligible to return after 4 weeks.
NFL Week 5 Power Rankings 2025: How all 32 teams stack up | ESPN.com
Biggest issue on offense: Pre-snap penalties. The Saints might have turned around the penalty situation with only four against the Bills, but coming into Week 4, they were in a tie as the most penalized team in the league. Thirteen of their penalties have come before the snap, such as false starts, illegal shifts and illegal motions. That has been a concerning trend for a team that can’t afford to make mistakes on either side of the ball.
QB Report Cards for 2025 NFL Week 4 | Bleacher Report
Spencer Rattler, New Orleans Saints. State Line: 18 of 27 for 126 yards and a touchdown
Each week, the same sentiment bubbles to surface after another New Orleans Saints loss, “Spencer Rattler isn’t the problem.” Well, he’s not the solution, either. It’s OK to root for a good story and a plucky QB playing as hard as he does. Even so, the Saints are 0-10 since he took over as the franchise’s starting quarterback. Rattler is competitive and showed a different side Sunday with his contributions in the run game. But he simply hasn’t been good enough to help his team win.
Around the league
Nick Sirianni believes A.J. Brown wants to be with Eagles despite cryptic messages | The Athletic
Jerry Jones responds to Micah Parsons: He told me to lose his number, so I did | Pro Football Talk
Browns expected to start Dillon Gabriel at QB, bench Joe Flacco after 1-3 start | CBSSports.com
Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings out for 49ers walkthrough | Pro Football Talk
Sauce Gardner says refs harder on him because Jets losing team | ESPN.com
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