Thursday was something of a paradox for New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
On ESPN, former NFL head coach Herm Edwards was comparing him to reigning MVP Josh Allen. Hours later, he’d get the starting nod for the preseason finale against the visiting New England Patriots.
And once again, the first-round pick out of Ole Miss was undeniably impressive in a quarter of action, throwing his third touchdown pass of the preseason, while showing off some mobility to boot.
Asked about the rookie’s performance, Giants head coach Brian Daboll remarked that nearly all 12 of Dart’s passes ‘should have been complete,’ instead of the mere six that New York receivers managed to hang on to.
But amid all the exuberance of the team’s 3-0 preseason, Dart’s epic run was actually coming to an end. Despite completing 32 of 47 passes in the preseason for 372 yards and zero interceptions, he now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being veteran Super Bowl winner Russell Wilson‘s backup — something he’s refused to complain about thus far.
‘Russ has completely earned that,’ Dart said of the starting job after Thursday’s 42-10 win. ‘He’s played amazing. He’s played elite.’
Despite completing 32 of 47 passes in the preseason for 372 yards and zero interceptions, he now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being veteran Russell Wilson’s backup
Dart completed 6 of 12 passes on Thursday, but Daboll felt all but one should’ve been caught
Wilson didn’t play Thursday, which wasn’t a surprise given his firm status as the team’s Week 1 starter.
But Dart doesn’t appear to be waiting in the wings, as Patrick Mahomes once did in Kansas City for a season before turning the Chiefs into a perennial Super Bowl contender. Instead, becoming the Giants starting quarterback in 2025 has felt more like a ‘when’ for Dart than an ‘if.’
‘I have the confidence, I feel like I’m going to be the best player on the field every time I’m on it,’ he said.
Dart didn’t waste any time Thursday, capping a five-play opening drive by rifling an 11-yard touchdown pass between a pair of Patriots defenders and into the hands of tight end Greg Dulcich in the end zone.
But it was three plays earlier where Dart was at his most comfortable, stepping up in the pocket, looking off his receiver to deceive New England’s secondary, and delivering a strike to a wide-open Gunner Olszewski, who had enough daylight to scamper another 40 yards downfield.
There were mistakes as well, like the first-quarter bomb that was easily broken up by the Patriots secondary. Unlike his earlier throw to Olszewski, Dart locked his eyes onto receiver Beaux Collins and by the time the ball arrived, so too had a second Patriots defender to apply the double team.
Dart is congratulated by starter Russell Wilson after tossing a touchdown pass
Dart was unlucky, too, as both Collins and Jaylin Hyatt dropped catchable passes on Thursday night.
But it was on his fourth drive where Dart may have learned the most valuable lesson of his preseason: Scrambling on fourth down, Dart reached the Patriots’ 32, where he could have safely slid for the first.
Instead, though, Dart tried to split a pair of Patriots defenders with nearly disastrous results. Not only did he fumble, but Dart’s head slammed off the turf, requiring him to get checked for a concussion in the sideline medical tent.
‘I trust him,’ Daboll told reporters later before adding that Dart should have slid.
A frustrated Dart was caught on camera urging trainers to expedite their evaluation so he could be cleared to return.
‘I didn’t understand why I got took off the field,’ said Dart, who only had the wind knocked out of him. ‘I wanted to get back out there and finish the drive. Everyone was just walking over and I was like: ‘Come on, I want to get back out there.’
Unfortunately for him, the damage was already done.
Fellow backup, former first-overall pick and Heisman winner Jameis Winston quickly stepped in and promptly floated a perfect 30-yard pass to Jalin Hyatt in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown.
Dart fumbled while trying to split to Patriots defenders. Dabol later agreed he should have slid
And therein lies the real obstacle for Dart this season.
With two capable veterans in that quarterback room, he has very little room for error and unless the Giants fall out of playoff contention, they have no reason to rush him onto the field.
‘We’re all really good players,’ Dart said. ‘I think everybody’s kind of seen that throughout the practices, throughout camp. We’re all operating at high levels.’
It’s an altogether different situation than 2004, when established veteran Kurt Warner was 5-4 as the Giants starter, only for first-year coach Tom Coughlin to jumpstart the team’s inevitable succession plan and insert Eli Manning
Like Dart, Manning was an Ole Miss product, but that’s where the similarities end.
Manning was the first-overall pick in 2004 and arrived in Northern New Jersey in a massive draft-day trade that saw fellow rookie quarterback Philip Rivers as well as future first- and third-round selections go to San Diego Chargers. And given Manning’s lineage, coming after NFL greats like father Archie and brother Peyton, fans were understandably impatient to see their new rookie quarterback.
Coughlin obliged over the objections of veterans Tiki Barber and Michael Strahan, although he probably shouldn’t have.
What had been a borderline playoff team went just 1-6 over the next seven weeks as Manning completed less than half his passes and tossed nine picks while looking nothing like the quarterback who’d go on to win a pair of Super Bowls with New York.
Fortunately for New York, that’s not the situation facing Wilson, Dart, or Daboll, who doesn’t seem like he’s in any rush to start the rookie given his more experienced options.
‘I’d say we’re in a day-to-day plan with a new quarterback,’ Daboll said of Dart in the early minutes of Friday morning. ‘He knows he has a lot of things to work on, but he’s made progress every day. I’m glad we drafted him and I’m glad he’s our guy.’
It was a far cry from hours earlier, when ESPN was calling him the next Josh Allen. But for Dart, as he begins an indefinite stretch as an NFL backup, it was perhaps the most optimistic sign of things to come.