Giants' Jaxson Dart addresses following in footsteps of Eli Manning

Back in early January, Jaxson Dart sounded eager to follow in the footsteps of Eli Manning as an Ole Miss quarterback tasked with helping the New York Giants contend for Super Bowl championships. 

The Giants made such dreams a reality when they traded back into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to grab Dart with overall pick No. 25. While speaking with reporters for the first time as a pro, Dart addressed his longtime relationship with the Manning family that should grow only stronger now that the 21-year-old is with Eli's former club.

"It's wild," an elated Dart said, per the Giants' official website. "It's wild to think about. They were just such an amazing asset for me when I was at Ole Miss. Obviously, going down to the Manning Passing Academy and spending more time with them there, and then [Archie Manning] just being consistent with texting me, and he made sure to give me a 'good luck' today. And then Eli, I couldn't ask for a better resource than that. In my eyes, he's going to be a...Hall of Famer here shortly. I'm going to continue to lean on them a little bit, and I couldn't be more blessed to have them in my corner."

Eli Manning previously offered his predraft scouting services to Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. This past winter, the two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player publicly campaigned for the Giants to take Dart over Colorado's Shedeur Sanders, Alabama's Jalen Milroe and other prospects linked with the franchise before Thursday night. 

In the end, reports claiming that Daboll "warmed to" Dart proved to be accurate. 

"Eli likes him," Schoen responded when asked if he received any "feedback" from Manning regarding Dart. "Big fan. Archie, as well. Yeah, so the family, they obviously — Ole Miss through and through and follow him and watch a lot of their games, so they were definitely fans of Jaxson." 

Much like Eli Manning spent part of his rookie season sitting behind Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, Dart should begin Week 1 of the 2025 campaign as a QB3 behind Russell Wilson and either Jameis Winston or Tommy DeVito. As of Thursday night, Dart seemed to understand the Giants don't want him to face a live defense in a meaningful game as a QB1 anytime soon. 

"This is just where my journey starts," Dart added during his comments. "I'm stepping into an amazing room with a Super-Bowl-winning quarterback (Wilson) who can see it from a different lens at such an elite level. I can't wait to go learn from him, go learn from all the other guys in Tommy and Jameis in the room, and then just the team as a whole. I feel like it's just a bunch of great competitors who really see it the same way, and I can't wait to go out there and compete and do all that I can to make the team better."