Giants QB Russell Wilson Unthreatened by Arrival of Rookie Jaxson Dart

Some NFL quarterbacks, particularly those who are nearing the back nine of their careers, might feel a little unsettled if their team goes out and adds a first-round draft pick at the position.

Not New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson, who knows the score. Wilson, signed to a one-year contract laced with incentives, understands that he’s not the long-term answer for the Giants and that the opportunity ahead is one to show the league that he still has what it takes to not only lead an offense but resurrect one that last year was on life support.

To that end, Wilson has welcomed the arrival of Jaxson Dart, the rookie that the Giants traded up to get in the first round earlier this spring. 

“Yeah, Jaxson's been great, man,” Wilson said last week after the Giants completed OTA No. 6. “He's a great worker, great teammate. We're having fun, all of us.

“We have a good quarterback room. Guys are so focused and working diligently every day. He's going to be an extremely, extremely good talent and everything else throughout his career.”

Wilson’s primary focus ever since arriving in East Rutherford as a free agent has been immersing himself in the team’s playbook. That doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been accessible to Dart should the rookie have a question.

What it does mean is that Wilson understands that Dart’s development will be primarily led by the coaching staff – head coach Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and quarterbacks coaches Shea Tierney and Chad Hall.

And for Wilson, his job is to help set an example for those around him in fulfilling the culture Daboll desires in the locker room.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just being my best every day, leading,” he said. “I always think about just leading everybody, just leading every room, every moment, every time I get to step between the white lines and the opportunity of that.”

That starts inside the quarterbacks' room, an environment that Wilson praised as being communicative.

“Yeah, we always communicate. I think that the best quarterback rooms I've ever been in, they're always super interactive,” he said. “I think that we have really good teachers of the game. That's been a really fun part, and I've had a lot of fun coming in here and just being a part of that and then leading in every way.” 

That includes mentoring Dart in the best way Wilson knows: by setting an example for the young rookie to follow. 

“I've always viewed it as you're always trying to be the best version of you, and then you're always giving back to everybody else,” he said.

But make no mistake, if Dart needs another sounding board in the locker room, Wilson is more than happy to oblige. 

“Yeah, I always share, and I always think about communication,” he said. “I'm a big believer in communicating out loud, just here's what I'm thinking, here's what I'm saying. You don't hold any information.

“I think that for us, it's always about us being the best that we can all be. And I think for me when you have tremendous confidence in yourself, you have no problem sharing it with others. I think that's just how I've always believed.”

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