The New York Giants signed quarterback Russell Wilson for his experience as much as his talent. For most, if not all, of the season, Wilson will lead the offense into battle against one of the league’s most daunting schedules. His biggest impact, though, will come between Sundays.
Wilson is a steady hand under center, an excellent mentor for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, and a respected veteran who the rest of the locker room can look to for (relentless) optimism.
It didn’t take long for Wilson to influence New York. On Thursday, head coach Brian Daboll revealed that Wilson was key to the Giants’ new practice adjustments, which include more seven-on-seven reps.
“Obviously, we've added some more seven-on-seven reps here. That's something that Russell feels really good about,” Daboll said, via team transcript. “And, you know, you can do it one of two ways. You can do a half line to see coverages. You can do a full field, seven on seven. You know, we've added some competitive periods where they have to play the situations out. Not that we didn't do that, but we've placed a little bit more emphasis on it.”
Wilson, having played for three other teams, has experience under legendary head coaches Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, and Mike Tomlin. He also played well under offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who is now the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
In its simplest form, Wilson offers a different perspective from Daboll and the rest of the quarterback room. When matched with his pedigree, his voice has even more credibility.
“Yeah, I've talked to Russ,” Daboll added. “He, again, you see it's good for the defense too in terms of the back seven, just in terms of how they match routes. Their zone drops, adjustments. You can't do one-on-ones during this time, so seven-on-seven was something that we thought we'd add, and we've done quite a bit of that. But we've added a number of reps, I would say too, situational reps. So every year is a little bit different.”
Fortunately for the Giants, Wilson has taken on the leadership part of the job. He seems happy to mentor Dart and sees himself as a leader for the entire roster.
Eventually, Dart will see playing time. Whether that comes late in 2025 or Week 1 of next season is partly up to Wilson, who’s all-in on contributing in any way possible.
“So, I think it's important to really talk and communicate and listen to any of the quarterbacks. But Russ has been good for us, I'd say, in a number of ways since he's been out here.”