Big Blue View
This is a big year for New York Giants legend Eli Manning. This is the 30th year of his family’s annual quarterback clinic, the Manning Passing Academy. To celebrate the milestone, the clinic has been made much more of an event this year than in previous years, complete with an NFL Films crew to document the weekend.
For those not familiar, the Manning Passing Academy is a weekend clinic put on by the Manning family — Archie, Peyton, Cooper, and Eli — for high school quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends, and running backs from around the country. It’s a first-come, first-served affair that doesn’t select based on pedigree, region, or school, and is open to 1,400 high school students.
The Manning Passing Academy also attracts some of the top college quarterbacks from around the country to serve as counselors.
As a part of the weekend, Eli spoke to the NFL Network about the Passing Academy, it’s evolution, as well as former counselor (and Giants quarterback) Jaxson Dart.
You can watch the full video here.
The Giants are clearly hoping that Eli’s fellow Ole Miss alum, Jaxson Dart, will make a similar developmental leap as he develops. The Giants were confident that Eli was “The Guy” when they made the blockbuster trade for him in 2004. However, things got off to a rocky start after Eli took over for Kurt Warner.
Two decades later, a different Giants regime had similar convictions about Jaxson Dart when they traded back into the first round to select him at 25th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. Dart had a promising first year and while he only won four games, and missed two due to a concussion, he still played well for a rookie. He up numbers that put his rookie season in the same conversation as the likes of Dan Marino, Cam Newton, and Justin Herbert.
Eli spoke about the transition from rookie to veteran starting quarterback, and what goes into making that second year leap.
“When you’re coming into the NFL, you’re not the starter, you’re a rookie,” Eli said. “It’s kinda hard to know what your role is. How do you lead guys? Do you know your offense completely?
“I think now, going into his second year, he’s going to have a greater command of the offense, a greater command of what he needs to do,” he added. “How does he need to prepare, how does he watch film, how does he watch the blitz pick up and he’s going to change protections. So kinda knowing how teams played him, so he can prepare for that and have answers next year. I think it just helps you from the leadership side, and the preparation side of knowing what to expect.
There are a few unlocks that Dart can work on as he develops as an NFL quarterback. He has some mechanical issues he can refine to help make his mechanics more repeatable and get...
