I am officially tired of the negative narratives around New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
- His play is regressing, and it is doing so because the Giants took Brian Daboll away from him.
- He is a glorified running back who can’t be relied upon as the quarterback of the future because he suffered a concussion and, gasp!, he might get hurt again because he tries too hard.
- The Giants better trade him and draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza if they get the chance.
I don’t know if Dart will have a career like Eli Manning’s, if it will come closer to the one Daniel Jones has had, or be something in-between.
I do know that the statistics say Dart has been better this season than No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, and that there is reason to believe he can become a really good NFL quarterback. There is no reason for the Giants to cast Dart aside and try someone else.
Don’t believe me? Here are some other analysts with the same viewpoint.
Draft analyst Todd McShay of The Ringer was bullish enough on Dart to tell then-coach Brian Daboll the quarterback was perfect for him. From ‘The McShay Report’ newsletter.
During the pre-draft process, I had a conversation with Brian Daboll about the 2025 QB class, and shared with him that I thought Dart would be the perfect fit in his system. Daboll didn’t show his cards then, but I had a pretty strong feeling going into the draft that he was New York’s guy. I even went as far as to predict that they’d trade back into the first round to select him, which ended up coming to fruition. …
Before Daboll’s firing, you could see why he and Dart were in many ways an excellent pairing. All of the things I loved about Dart on tape—including his poise in the pocket, mobility, and processing—were on display, and for a few weeks in October it looked like the Giants had gotten the steal of the draft.
I’m interested to see what Dart looks like next season under a new coaching staff, but through 10 games, I’ve seen enough to think this is a guy worth holding on to and giving every chance to be a franchise QB with the Giants. The talent is there, he just needs the proper support system in place.“
I am also going to agree with this from Art Stapleton of the Bergen Record:
The narratives being pushed about Jaxson Dart right now are so out of whack. …
What we’re seeing is not regression for Dart; it’s the inability of the Giants’ players and coaches paid to help the rookie take a step forward to step up. …
If Dart was in the Class of 2026, he’d be QB1 – and in the eyes of some talent evaluators, that would be by a mile. So ignore the noise from those trying to bury Dart now just weeks after praising him as the top quarterback of the Class of 2025.
Stapleton also had a point when he said the Giants should have been aggressive at the trade deadline in adding a wide receiver, despite their losing record. That is the same position I took before the deadline. It was not about winning or making the playoffs. it was about helping the quarterback develop. Here is some of what I wrote then:
“The Giants have a rookie quarterback they are trying to support. As nice as his contribution against the Philadelphia Eagles was, Lil’Jordan Humphrey cannot replace Malik Nabers. No one the Giants could acquire in a trade at this point really could, but the Giants need to do whatever they can within reason to give Dart pass-catching weapons that will help his development and give the Giants an opportunity to make more splash plays.”
Before Giants’ ownership made the decision to keep Daboll as head coach and Joe Schoen as GM after the Giants went 3-14 a season ago, I came out in favor of that being the decision. Here is part of what I wrote at the time:
“Keep them together and let them try to finish the job they started. Let them try to continue shaping the roster. Let them try to find the right quarterback in the draft and develop him into a player the organization can win with …
“There has been too much change since Coughlin exited the stage. There have been three GMs. There have been four full-time head coaches, plus interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo.
“Mara knows that has to stop somewhere. It would be easy, and understandable, if ownership moves on from Schoen and Daboll. Or even just from Daboll.
“The difficult choice, and the one I think is right, is letting these two men try to learn from their mistakes and dig the Giants out of this mess.”
The danger in that decision to give Daboll and Schoen was always the scenario that had unfolded in 2025. The Giants drafted a quarterback with Daboll and his system in mind. Daboll, though, proved that ultimately things were not going to get better on his watch and got fired. Which, whatever you think of Dart’s play since, was the right decision. You have to be able to coach everybody, not just the quarterback. Schoen might follow Daboll out the door soon.
Now, the quarterback will be starting over with a new coach and new playbook next season. That doesn’t always turn out like Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson have in Chicago. Sometimes it turns out like Daniel Jones and Joe Judge, or Sam Darnold and Adam Gase with the New York Jets.
If the Giants were going to go all-in on a quarterback it might have been better not to do so with a head coach whose job was hanging by a thread.
What it comes down to, though, is that the Giants cannot afford to get the hire of their next coach wrong.
One of the big offseason decisions the Giants will have to make is whether or not to re-sign veteran right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
There isn’t any doubt that the 31-year-old Eluemunor deserves a nice payday after two excellent seasons with the Giants. There are currently eight right tackles making $10 million per year or more, and Eluemunor is likely worthy of joining that group.
Should the Giants pay Eluemunor that kind of money?
Rookie offensive tackle Marcus Mbow might have something to say about that.
The next two games could be Mbow’s chance to show whoever is making the decision that he could handle the job. Mbow will start at left tackle in place of the injured Andrew Thomas on Sunday, and probably again in the season finale against the Dallas Cowboys.
If he plays well does the fifth-round pick give the Giants the option of spending whatever money it would take to keep Eluemunor on another of their many needs?
Considering the Giants’ history of offensive line struggles, it isn’t easy to think about letting a quality player like Eluemunor leave. Mbow, though, could make that a real option.
I still believe that whether or not Schoen stays or goes as the general manager is a 50-50 proposition heading into the final two games.
The record the past three seasons has been terrible, and you can point to a long list of mistakes if you are building the “Joe Must Go” case. No argument there.
My belief, though, is that ownership does not want to fire Schoen. They will if they have to, or if the coach they decide they want, feels he needs a different GM, but Schoen will stay unless ownership feels there isn’t any other choice but to let him go.
Schoen is believed to have a solid relationship with ownership, and that matters. John Mara’s health might factor into how much change the organization wants to undergo. If the narrative that the Giants were poorly coached and have more talent than they showed wins the day, that also works in Schoen’s favor.
Before Sunday’s game against the also 2-13 Las Vegas Raiders, I don’t know how this will turn out.
Tanking or appropriate caution?
The number of Giants and Raiders starters who won’t be playing on Sunday makes the game look a bit like one of those college football bowl games with backups all over the place thanks to opt-outs and the transfer portal.
The Raiders placed star tight end Brock Bowers, star defensive end Maxx Crosby, and starting safety Jeremy Chinn on injured reserve this week. The Giants placed four players on IR, including Andrew Thomas, John Michael Schmitz and Tyler Nubin. They placed Kayvon Thibodeaux on IR last week.
If you want to call all of that tanking, you will. More likely, in my view, it is just appropriate caution with players who have been playing through injuries or were uncertain to be available for next week’s season finale.
Whatever you call it, you will need to have team rosters handy to know who you are watching.
About that No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft
Per ESPN Analytics and Jordan Ranaan, here is impact of winning and losing for the Giants and Raiders on their chances to get the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft:
Current chance at No. 1 pick: 37.6%
With loss: 73%
With win: 6%
Current chance at No. 1 pick: 36.2%
With loss: 69%
With win:
