Thanks to a provocative mailbag question, we take a look
The New York Giants have a few new signal-callers for the 2025 NFL season. Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson is the most established of the trio (Jameis Winston and rookie Jaxson Dart), but Wilson’s time outside of Seattle was not consistent.
Gary Bolduc sent an email to our Big Blue View mailbag that Ed passed to me. His email read…
When I think of what should be expected from Wilson this year I agree that it most likely is better QB play than the Giants had from Jones last year. But at this point in Wilson’s career his supporting cast might be an indicator of what we can expect from him. I don’t think he can any longer lift a team by himself. So compared to the supporting cast he had in Pittsburgh last year how does his offensive position groups (WR/RB/TE/OL) this year stack up.
Thank you for the question, Gary.
The Steelers were 4-2 under Justin Fields until Russell Wilson returned to the lineup from his calf injury in Week 7 against the Jets. Wilson led the Steelers to four consecutive wins, with a 109 to 76 (33 points) point differential. Wilson proceeded to win two out of three games before losing five in a row, including a playoff loss.
Wilson finished with 2,752 passing yards (64.1% completion rate), with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He had a big-time throw rate of 6.3% and a yards per attempt of 7.5% in a run-heavy Arthur Smith offense that used play-action on 25.2% of their dropbacks (tenth in the NFL).
The 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers had George Pickens as their primary weapon; he finished with 64 catches for 987 yards with four touchdowns. Calvin Austin III was the only other receiver with more than 26 catches — he finished with 37 receptions for 573 yards with four touchdowns.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth had 68 catches for 668 yards with seven touchdowns, and the running backs were both heavily involved in the passing attack (Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson). The third receiver was a combination of Van Jefferson and Mike Williams.
Although Pickens is talented, the Giants have a more explosive and dynamic group of skilled players than the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, with the (hopefully) ascending young players like Theo Johnson, Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Jaylin Hyatt. This group possesses more vertical field-stretching ability than Pittsburgh, which coincides with Wilson’s skill set.
Russell Wilson had the highest completion percentage and yards per attempt on 20-plus yard throws while attempting deep throws at a 17.6% rate — second most in the NFL (PFF), and he converted them at a 53.3% rate.
He was a vertical play catalyst in Smith’s run-heavy scheme with lesser talent than he possesses with the Giants. The personnel is one thing but the scheme should also assist Wilson.
Brian Daboll runs a more spread concept that creates mismatches with spacing and tempo rather than Smith’s ground game control approach. Daboll tailored his 2022 offense to Daniel Jones’ strengths and can now lean on some of Wilson’s strengths — his ability to create explosive pass plays.
The Giants have the edge over the 2024 Steelers in the wide receiver department, as well as the play-calling one (debatable to some). However, Pittsburgh may take both the running back and tight end positions, albeit the Giants have young developing players at each position who can realistically out-play the 2024 Steelers skill-position group.
The 2024 Steelers may be “better” than the Giants at tight end and running back right now, before training camp, but all that can change due to the Giants’ incredible youth at both position groups. It’s ostensible.
As for the offensive line, Pro Football Focus ranked the Steelers tied at 15th and the Giants at 23rd (seven spots better than their previous rank of 30th). Pittsburgh was a much better run-blocking team, with higher adjusted line yards and a higher PFF grade, as well as better overall numbers.
Pass blocking, however, was similar. Both units struggled. The Giants were in poor game scripts and had nine starting combinations due to injuries. I would contend that New York’s ability to pass protect was much better when healthy with Andrew Thomas. Still, I may give the slight edge to Pittsburgh due to the Steelers’ ability to run the football, which was a key part of their identity under Smith.
This exercise suggests that Wilson is stepping into a worse situation now with the Giants, but I don’t look at it that way. I don’t know how Wilson will perform with the Giants, but there are reasons to believe he’ll make the team more competent and competitive on offense.
