The good news: Jaxson Dart did not injure his ACL in Monday night's loss against the Rams. The bad news: unfortunately, he tore his MCL and meniscus, which required season-ending surgery. And just like that, what looked like a promising year went up in smoke.
Or did it?
As I wrote in my last piece, I never thought this was a playoff team; in fact, I had them going 8-9 even with Dart. With two very winnable games coming up at MetLife Stadium over the next two weeks, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the Giants demise are greatly exaggerated.
John Mara didn't hire John Harbaugh just to coach his team; he hired him to manage it as well. And part of managing a team is to fill roster vacancies. Well brother do the Giants have a roster vacancy.
But while losing Dart for the season is a huge hole, that doesn't mean Harbaugh is required to overpay to fill it. No sooner had the news broke about the severity of Dart's injury than every talking head had the Giants acquiring every Tom, Dick and Harry to replace him.
Let me be as direct as I can. Under no circumstances should the Giants panic here. Yes, they need a backup for Jameis Winston. But, no, they don't need to overpay for that replacement. If they can't find someone on their own practice squad, they can always look elsewhere. There are plenty of choices. Joe Milton is currently on the Cowboys practice squad and all he would cost is cash. Sacrificing valuable draft capital for someone else's backup would be making a bad situation considerably worse.
Think about what's just happened. The guy you designed your entire offense around is out for the season. Even the most seasoned veteran is going to need time to learn that system. Despite what we saw Monday night, Winston is more than capable of stepping in. If the Giants didn't think he was up to it, they wouldn't have extended him another two years. I have every faith that Matt Naggy can make the necessary tweaks to the offense to accommodate his strengths and, hopefully, mitigate his weaknesses. And if he can't, no high-priced backup is likely to change that.
Like it or not, losing Dart for the rest of the season was a gut punch. You could see that it sucked the air right out of the Giants ballon. Even Harbaugh looked like somebody had driven over his dog. The way they played that night, the Miami Dolphins could've beaten them. In times like this, you move on and prepare for the next opponent. Injuries are a part of the game. The fact is there are still 15 games to go in the schedule. Last year's team would've folded like a cheap tent; I doubt this one will. Indeed, Harbaugh indicated in his latest presser that he believed the Giants could still make the playoffs. Bravado? Perhaps, but it does underscore the toughness this team has exhibited since training camp.
As for what happens after this season, the Giants have no intention of drafting another quarterback, nor should they. Dart has shown he is more than capable of leading this team. Yes he's been snake bit by injuries his first two years, but so have other quarterbacks. Matthew Stafford started only 13 games his first two seasons in the NFL. In his third year he started all 16 games, threw for over 5,000 yards and led the Detroit Lions to their first playoff appearance in over a decade. Dart can be the next Stafford if given the time to develop.
And in the event that the season goes sideways on the Giants and they wind up with a top five pick again, the best thing they could do is to trade back and continue to fill out this roster. Throwing good money after bad is not the solution.
The bottom line? When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade out of them. Given their luck over the last few years, the Giants should probably open up a stand outside MetLife.
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