Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen are in no rush to have Jaxson Dart be ready to assume control under center from the jump. That is why they went out and signed proven veterans in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston for the 2025 season.
That is why they are going to take things slow with the Ole Miss product as rookie camp begins on Friday.
“We’re ecstatic to have him,” Schoen said. “He’s got a lot of makings of a good quarterback, and there’s a long way to go. There’s a developmental process that he’s going to have to go through. Again, these offenses are not easy to learn, and the execution has to be at a high level.”
It is obvious just how high the Giants think of Dart, who completed 69.3% of his passes for 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns, and six interceptions last season with the Rebels. They traded back up into the first round after selecting Abdul Carter No. 3 overall, parting ways with pick Nos. 34, 99, and a third-rounder in 2026 for the Houston Texans’ No. 25 selection with which they took Dart.
Ask Daboll or Schoen, and they believe that the 21-year-old will be the franchise quarterback for years to come, but that does not have to happen yet.
“Yeah, I’d say all that will play out,” Daboll said. “Russ will be our starter, and that’s how it’ll be once we get started here in the spring. Look, the process of developing a quarterback is just that. So we’re going to do everything we can to develop him and bring him along. We have some good quarterbacks in the room relative to play time, experience, some medals on the wall, if you will.”
With Winston as Wilson’s backup, that takes any sort of pressure off Dart, who does not have to worry about coming into a struggling franchise and being its savior as it tries to turn things around. There is a sturdy enough bridge in place to afford him at least one year to sit on the sidelines with a clipboard or take notes in the quarterback room.
That means rookie camp will be about the beginning of his assimilation into the Giants’ organization, getting comfortable with Daboll’s scheme, and then sticking with the veterans once they arrive.
“I know the system that they ran down there at Ole Miss is similar to the one we had at Alabama,” Daboll said while referring back to his days as a coach at the SEC powerhouse. “So there’s some carryover on some of these things, but I think this guy has gotten better every year he’s played. He’s a leader. He was smart. He has the attributes that we were looking for. Excited to have him. Look forward to getting him in the room. He’s got a lot to learn. It’ll be a process here with him. But he’s a guy we look forward to working with.”
