Jaxson Dart's Preseason Reps Come With a Real Risk

Playing Jaxson Dart gives the Giants badly needed live reps in Matt Nagy's offense, but every preseason snap creates another chance for the young quarterback to get hurt before the games actually count. Drew and Rob ultimately land on the same side: Dart needs the work.

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Should Jaxson Dart play in the preseason?

Yes—the argument is that at least some first-team work is worth the risk because Dart is entering only his second NFL season, started 12 games as a rookie and is learning an entirely new offense before opening against Dallas and the Rams.

John Harbaugh still refuses to reveal exactly who will play against Minnesota, but his own comments show the tension. He values first-team reps, yet he also understands what happens if an important starter gets hurt in August. Matt Nagy's evaluation makes the decision even more interesting: Dart is extremely talented, but there are still areas where he needs development, particularly seeing the defense, getting his eyes to the right place and processing quickly after the snap.

Is Malik Nabers getting close enough to Week 1? His rehab took another meaningful step when he returned to controlled team work wearing a red no-contact jersey. Harbaugh called it a milestone. Nabers still hasn't reached full competitive work, but the trajectory is improving—and somehow the player wearing the no-contact jersey was fine while wide receivers coach Chad Hall ended up needing stitches after an accidental collision during drills.

Is the Giants secondary dealing with temporary camp injuries, or is this becoming an actual depth problem? Paulson Adebo remained limited by his hamstring, while Greg Newsome II and Dru Phillips worked their way back on a limited basis. The Giants could now get significant preseason looks at Deonte Banks and Colton Hood. D.J. James and David Long Jr. were also gone only eight days after arriving, with Ugo Amadi and Sam Webb taking their places.

Terrion Arnold heading elsewhere pushed the conversation into a much bigger hypothetical: if a corner like Christian Gonzalez ever became available, how aggressive should the Giants be? Art Stapleton floated the idea, and we treated it exactly as that—an outside proposal, not a reported Giants trade pursuit.

The competition at safety might be more real than anyone expected. Tyler Nubin hasn't officially lost anything, but Jason Pinnock and Ar'Darius Washington have earned significant first-team work. Harbaugh's comments that both have played like starters turned what looked like routine camp rotation into a legitimate Week 1 question.

Dominic Zvada and Ben Sauls are battling at kicker, with Zvada coming off a 7-for-7 practice that included a 62-yard simulated game-winner. We also get into Mike Bloomgren's expectations for a more physical offensive line and what actually needs to show up against Minnesota before anyone buys the August toughness talk.

Arvell Reese's $47.8 million guaranteed contract produced one of the night's lighter conversations after the rookie essentially signed the deal, went back to his hotel and prepared for the next practice. That turned into a larger discussion about NFL salaries, taxes, agent fees and how different the headline contract number can be from what a player actually keeps.

Finally, Darren Waller is somehow back in the Giants conversation again. With Waller moving on to Carolina, Drew and Rob revisit the third-round pick Joe Schoen sent to Las Vegas, Waller's one Giants season, Schoen's later defense of the trade and whether Brian Daboll's usage of Waller deserves more blame in hindsight.

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