Malik Nabers, Cam Skattebo Fantasy Outlook with Jaxson Dart as Russell Wilson Benched

The New York Giants are reportedly starting rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, benching veteran signal-caller Russell Wilson after three games, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

New York has sandwiched two ugly offensive performances (a 21-6 loss to the Washington Commanders and a 22-9 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs) around one great one (a 40-37 overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys).

Ultimately, New York is 0-3, and now the desperate team is looking toward Dart, who showed great promise in the preseason, to spark some life into this squad before it’s too late.

Over three preseason games, Dart completed 32-of-47 passes for 372 yards and three touchdowns (no interceptions). He also rushed for 52 yards and one score on six carries.

It’s possible Dart could bring life and juice to a team that needs it on offense.

Wilson was great against the Cowboys with 450 yards and three touchdowns, but the team’s struggles were unfortunately evident in Weeks 1 and 3. Wilson completed 35-of-69 passes for 328 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions as New York scored just 15 total points.

Bobby Skinner of the Giants Nation Show has notably spoken about Wilson’s struggles seeing the middle of the field and further noted that Dart could improve upon that area and help in the run game.

As far as how this move affects other players, particularly from a fantasy perspective, let’s take a deeper dive into New York’s WR1 (Malik Nabers) and RB1 (Cam Skattebo).

Nabers is a must-start in fantasy regardless of who is playing quarterback. His best rookie season game was with a backup (Drew Lock) making a spot start last December when he caught seven passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns against the Indianapolis Colts.

Nabers also had some big games last year when Daniel Jones, now a star for the Colts, was struggling in the first half of the season as the Giants’ QB1. Examples include a 10-catch, 127-yard, one-touchdown day against the Washington Commanders and a 12-reception, 115-yard outing versus the Dallas Cowboys.

Nabers torched Dallas again this year with Wilson at QB, snagging nine passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

The long story short: Dart has shown enough preseason and training camp promise that he very well might be the best option of the four. And if that’s the case, Nabers could have a ton of explosive games in his future. He had 109 catches for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns last year and could be in line toward a massive season this year with Dart aboard.

He’s a lock in season-long fantasy lineups moving forward (and was regardless of who was at quarterback) and should be a strong consideration for daily fantasy leagues every week moving forward should Dart meet the hype.

Skattebo is the Giants’ RB1 at the moment with Tyrone Tracy out for two-to-four weeks with a dislocated shoulder, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Devin Singletary will be Skattebo’s backup.

The rookie out of Arizona State impressed for the Giants on Sunday, when the offense got almost nothing going in a 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Skattebo was an exception with 10 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown and six carries for 61 receiving yards.

He’s the bellcow in town right now, and it’s possible that role remains the same for the rest of the year. Skattebo’s tough running at Arizona State has translated to the NFL. He’s tough to bring down in open space as the bulldozer keeps his legs churning for extra yards while defenders bounce off him at his best.

An improved offense should, in theory, create more scoring opportunities for Skattebo. One can surmise that Dart’s running ability opens things up for Skattebo in the run-pass option game as well, giving the big man more room to roam.

In short, Skattebo is looking like a flex option in fantasy at worst and an RB2 at best right now, especially in PPR leagues given New York’s propensity to use him in the pass game.

We’ll see how it all shakes out in the Meadowlands soon enough when New York hosts the Chargers on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in MetLife Stadium.