By Ben Tredinnick
Photo Credit: USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The schedule for the 2025 NFL season was released last week, with every team finding out when they will face their opponents in the upcoming season.
One of the major takeaways from this reveal was the strength of the New York Giants’ schedule.
The Giants’ schedule has been ranked the toughest in the league.
This is due to the previous performances of the teams they are facing this year.
In 2025, the Giants will face the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and Denver Broncos, all of whom made the playoffs last year alongside the usual NFC East opponents (the very strong seasons of Washington and Philadelphia do not help the Giants with their schedule)
However, while these are tough teams to play against, the order in which they are being played only makes the Giants’ season that much harder.
They open on the road to Washington and then face Dallas in Arlington a week later.
Week 3 is their home opener. It is a prime-time game against Kansas City.
In the following weeks, the Giants have games with New Orleans, the Chargers, Denver, and the Eagles twice.
There is a serious possibility that this team could very much go 0-8 to start to year, killing any hope the fanbase has before the season has even started.
But, Giants fans do seem to have some hope that things are going to improve this year, after over a decade of (barring the 2022 season) mediocrity.
This is all to do with the massive changes in the roster, especially on offense, something that the team has struggled with over the last few seasons.
The most notable of these has come in the quarterback position.
From Dimes to Darts
Daniel Jones left during the 2024 season and is now hoping to get the starting role at the Indianapolis Colts, a team that has had a revolving door of QBs ever since Andrew Luck retired.
Replacing him, and Drew Lock (who has returned to Seattle), are Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
These are two experienced QBs, with Wilson being a former Super Bowl Champion. However, both of these players have been able to do much in the last few years.
This meant that the Giants needed to draft a quarterback in the recent NFL Draft.
They traded their second-round pick for the Houston Texans’ first-round pick (number 25) and took Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart.
Dart (who was preferred by coach Brian Daboll over Shedeur Sanders) brings a welcome breath of fresh air into a quarterback room that has been very much devoid of any personality over the last 8 years.
He could very much be the future of this team, as we have seen with Bo Nix in Denver.
Coming into week one, it is widely assumed that Russell Wilson is going to be the starter.
But with their very tough first two months, an underperformance from Wilson could take the Giants out of playoff contention and, thus, meaningful games for the rest of the year. This will frustrate a fanbase who are tired of seeing their rivals thrive.
If Willson underdelivers, and Winston cannot help to team either, then the Giants will turn to Dart.
When could we see Dart as the starting QB?
Daniel Jones made his debut in week 3 of his debut season in a performance that helped the Giants win the game. However, he was only given this chance due to a poor performance in the week before by Eli Manning, who would retire at the end of the season.
Do not expect a similar situation this time around.
Wilson is new to the Giants and should be given a bit of time to get used to the team.
That being said, with a schedule like the Giants have, a drastic input of youth could be what they need to help the team if Wilson struggles.
For this, I predict that if things do not go to plan, and the Giants’ season is seen as over before we reach October, I would make Dart the starting QB by Week 7 at the earliest.
This will give the rookie the chance to develop in what may be seen as meaningless games.
However, if Wilson can lead the Giants to some success, then maybe Dart will spend the year on the bench, learning from Wilson.
Ben Tredinnick is a contributor to The MMM Journal.
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