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May 9, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) speaks to members of the press after rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. John Jones-Imagn Images

Jaxson Dart's Arrival Biggest Post-Draft Reason for Giants Optimism

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated May 15, 2025 10:00 AM ET

Only a few months ago, the general vibe surrounding the New York Giants organization was one of immense despair for a team coming off one of its most historically disappointing seasons. The team finished 3-14 and had no real identity in its locker room to build upon.

Part of that missing identity came from the absence of a legitimate answer at the quarterback position. The Giants finally decided to end their six-year relationship with Daniel Jones before having a potential replacement following in the wings in East Rutherford.

That mistake led to even further disaster for the team down the stretch of the 2024 regular season, as they had to play quarterback carousel with three different players just to get to the finish line of a highly forgettable year.

General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll knew they needed to come up with a well thought out, convincing plan for ownership as to how they would solve the lingering quarterback crisis, both for the immediate future and the seasons to come, lest they wanted to lose their jobs after three years at the helm.

The first phase of their process was to bring in two experienced veterans, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, to hold down the fort for the 2025 season while the front office navigated the talent in the impending rookie class in the draft.

After signing those two players, the Giants decided they weren’t finished with gunslinger moves this offseason. Their next bold move was to jump back into the late first round of the NFL Draft to select Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, who CBS Sports writer Tyler Sullivan labeled as the biggest reason for optimism for the Giants franchise ahead of the season.

“As exciting as Abdul Carter and his injection along a defensive line that already consists of Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence is, what gives New York Giants fans hope is Jaxson Dart,” Sullivan wrote.

‘The front office had enough faith in the Ole Miss product to trade back up into the first round of the draft to select him, and he is now the long-term answer at the position.

“Of course, it's a question as to when we'll actually see Dart with Russell Wilson, likely the Week 1 starter, but he provides hope for a brighter tomorrow and heads to New York with a ton of raw skill.”

From the moment the Giants selected him with the No. 25 pick after trading with the Houston Texans, it has been known that Dart will begin his time with the organization by developing from the sidelines under Daboll and the team’s coaching staff.

Dart, who was one of the five most productive quarterbacks in college last season, is viewed as a player with a ton of upside and the unique athletic persona that the regime wants to see in its future signal caller.

He flashed all of that at Ole Miss with a career-high season that included throwing for 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.

As he still has some growing to do before he can take the main stage in the pros, the Giants believe they have the people to mentor him into the player he needs to be to carry the offense towards success.

The hope is that Daboll’s history of turning Josh Allen into the stud passer he has been for the Buffalo Bills will carry over to the work he does with Dart starting this summer.

Aside from his talents and potential ceiling, the other half of the reason to be optimistic about Dart is that he finds himself in arguably the perfect scenario to let his development take the time it needs.

Having Wilson and Winston in front of him on the depth chart will assure that the Giants don’t have to throw him to the wolves too early and create that lingering effect on the rest of his career in blue.

Dart can exercise diligence in working on his post-snap reading abilities, which some scouts said needed some work before the draft, and the playbook in the event his name gets called in the near future.

The Giants are confident they can avoid that possibility this season, and the objective is to have their rookie ready to assume the starting job in 2026 and beyond.

If and when he takes control of the huddle, Dart flashes an incredibly strong arm, quick release of the football, and isn’t afraid to take off with it and extend plays with his feet.

He seems to play with that sense of confidence in the pocket that the Giants were craving with Daniel Jones, and now they have a young prodigy putting in the work to bring that to the field soon.

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