Wan’Dale Robinson is an established receiver now in the NFL, entering his fourth season with the Giants.
Working with the team’s overhauled quarterbacks room this preseason has given Robinson optimism that the Giants offense can quickly improve a low-octane unit that ranked 30th in yards per game and 31st in scoring in 2024.
“I feel confident. I think we worked really hard this summer, doing a lot of different things and getting a lot of people involved and moving a lot of different places,” Robinson said after practice Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. “I think seeing it out there in these preseason games, you kind of saw, even if it wasn’t the starters, there was the standard that was set throughout camp.”
The Giants averaged 35.7 points per game in their three preseason wins, even if imported starter Russell Wilson attempted only 14 passes (with 10 completions) in two appearances before sitting out Thursday’s 42-10 win over New England.
“Just his attention to deal with everything,” Robinson said when asked what he’s learned most about Wilson during training camp. “Whenever it comes to routes, he wants to know that you’re gonna be in certain spots and he’s gonna let you know exactly what he needs out of you, which is definitely something I’ve felt like we needed as a whole team.
“So I’m always trying to make sure I’m doing the right thing, running to the ball, but it’s just like I said, the attention to detail, just the ‘want to be great’ is exactly what you get out of him.”
The 10-time Pro Bowler will start Week 1 against the Commanders on Sept. 7 and beyond, but if the 36-year-old Wilson falters, the Giants have impressive first-round pick Jaxson Dart and veteran signal caller Jameis Winston behind him.
Dart, the 25th pick in the draft, completed 32 of 47 passes for 372 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions — plus a rushing score — in the preseason.
“He’s got some moxie to him. I’m just really excited to watch him go out there and play,” said Robinson, who registered a career-high 93 receptions last season. “It looked like he was all in command and knew exactly where he needed to go with the ball.
“A couple of receivers we were talking to were like, this is going to be a pretty good quarterback once he knows exactly all the checks and everything going on. It’s going to be really exciting for him.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll still hasn’t declared whether Dart or Winston will serve as the No. 2 quarterback behind Wilson for Week 1, saying only “we’ll see” and referring to the rookie as “a backup quarterback” before the start of Sunday’s practice.
“Russ had a lot of reps, by far and away, the most reps of practice,” Daboll said of camp. “You script practice for things you want to see, for all the quarterbacks, but for your team most importantly. I think [offensive coordinator] Mike [Kafka] did a really good job with that.”
Robinson — part of a returning receiving corps also featuring Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton — liked the feeling of walking off the field following productive showings by the offense.
“It won’t take some getting used to, we’ll be happy for it, but we came in the locker room after each game and were like, this is what we want,” Robinson said. “We want to come in here happy, scoring 30 points, with the wins. … I think [that’s possible]. At the end of the day, we still gotta go out there and prove it, and go out there and put points on the board.
“So we’re definitely excited to get going, just trying to take each day one at a time and continue to get better. Then whenever game week comes and Sunday comes, we’ll be ready to kick off and ready to go.”