There will be no quarterback change in New York despite the Giants’ 2-13 record, as rookie Jaxson Dart is poised to get all the remaining snaps.
“We’re full throttle ahead,” interim coach Mike Kafka said this week. “Jaxson’s running the ship. No question about that.”
But Dart’s supporting cast has dwindled throughout the season. In his first start, he lost star wide receiver Malik Nabers to a torn ACL. In Week 8, rookie running back Cam Skattebo suffered a gruesome season-ending ankle injury.
Now, Dart will be without his usual protectors on the offensive line, as LT Andrew Thomas exited Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a hamstring injury and will remain out for the season. Center John Michael Schmitz also left the Vikings game with a hand injury, and his availability for Week 17 is unknown.
With left guard Jon Runyan out due to his wife expecting a baby, Dart finished Sunday’s game without three of his usual starting offensive linemen. Aaron Stinnie filled in at left guard, with rookie fifth-round pick Marcus Mbow at left tackle and Austin Schlottmann at center.
The Giants have had a pretty healthy offensive line this season. Which, if you’ve followed the team over the last decade, you’ll know hasn’t always been the case. The quintet of Thomas, Runyan, Schmitz, right guard Greg Van Roten and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor have all played at least 13 games. Up until Sunday, both Runyan and Van Roten hadn’t missed a game. Thomas missed the first two games of the season as he finished up his recovery from a Lisfranc fracture.
That means that since Dart earned his first start in Week 4, he has largely played behind the same cast of characters, minus one lineman here or there. As any offensive line player will tell you, that type of consistency is one of the biggest keys to success on the field. But that lineup was disrupted Sunday, and Dart looked flummoxed by the chaos arranged for him by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
The Giants’ sack rate was the highest of the season (27.8 percent) against Minnesota, as Dart was sacked five times — the most he’s taken since the Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The pressure New York allowed per dropback (47.4 percent) was the highest since that Eagles game, too. Dart completed just seven passes on 13 attempts for 33 yards. The Giants finished with 13 net passing yards, and Dart didn’t add much on the ground either, gaining just seven yards on two carries.
Again, much of the team’s dismal offensive output against the Vikings can be credited to Flores’ schemes, rather than turnover within the Giants’ offensive line.
“This is probably the first time we’ve had that much movement in the rotation, but I trust in all those guys, and they have prepared and work really hard,” Dart said. “So I have all the trust in the world in them.”
Kafka echoed that trust.
“We really didn’t feel like we needed to skip a beat in terms of how we played the game, or at least our intent for how we wanted to start the game and get into the game,” the coach said. “And obviously, you want to adjust based on how things are going. Or maybe a certain player is doing really well, or struggling a little bit. How can we help? But it didn’t feel like that throughout the game.
“So, I just think the way the game kind of went,” Kafka continued, ” … three minutes and 20 seconds left with two timeouts at the minus 40 — you’re 25 yards from a game-tying field goal, 60 yards from a game winner with the ball in Jaxson Dart’s hands. I’ll take that any day of the week.”
With the intense focus on Dart’s health, given the hits he takes and his five concussion checks — the rookie has missed two games this season with a concussion — it’s fair to examine how offensive-line disruptions could impact the New York quarterback in the final two games of a season that’s already over.
As important as it will be to evaluate Mbow’s performance and track his development, it’s also crucial to consider how Dart could be affected, with his blindside being protected by a rookie who has allowed 15 pressures and two sacks in 119 pass-blocking snaps, per TruMedia. Thomas, for context, has allowed 13 pressures and two sacks in 416 pass-blocking snaps. Mbow’s pressure allowed percentage (12.6 percent) is the second-highest among Giants offensive linemen behind James Hudson (who hasn’t played meaningful snaps since Week 2). The next lineman on the list is Runyan, at 5.8 percent.
The team, however, has made its decision: Dart is playing out the year, and Giants fans will have to hope he stays healthy.
But the recent injuries to the offensive line also shift that unit’s future back into focus. Eluemunor, a dependable tackle, will hit free agency and is set to command a hefty deal. Van Roten is also hitting free agency, but at 35 years old. Mbow has been the only offensive lineman added to the roster in the last two drafts, as veterans have filled the room.
With the Giants likely to have a top-five pick in 2026, improving the offensive line will be one of the team’s goals on draft night. In The Athletic’s fan survey, the offensive line ranked second among positions that supporters think the Giants should prioritize.
But the draft is still four months away. The next two weeks are all about keeping Dart healthy.