Big Blue View
After two bad Russell Wilson performances and one good one as a New York Giant, fans seem ready to move on and put Jaxson Dart in for something other than a few zone reads. Brian Daboll may be ready too, if his evasive answers to the quarterback question at Monday’s presser suggest.
Here’s the question, fans: How long a leash are you willing to give Dart? Here was Dane Brugler’s take on Dart in The Beast:
With his physical tools and rhythm passing, he was an ideal fit in Kiffin’s quarterback-friendly offense, although the simplistic nature of the scheme leaves NFL scouts questioning his post-snap decision-making process when reads aren’t as structured and predetermined. The other key concern is his tendency to prematurely drop his eyes once the pocket gets heated. However, his athleticism to buy time and scramble for positive yards is an asset. Overall, Dart needs time to develop his progression-based reads and anticipation (things he wasn’t asked to regularly do in college), but he is a natural thrower of the football with promising mobility and high-level competitive intangibles. If allowed to develop at his own pace, he offers NFL starting upside in the right situation.
Question: Are the Giants the right situation? Daboll is now unofficially fighting for his coaching life in New York. Does “developing at his own pace” = making him the starter in Week 4 or 5?
Fortunately, almost every year some NFL team is in a situation similar to what the Giants face, so we have plenty of data. Let’s take a look at draftees by year to see how long it takes for them to live up to their potential.
We’ll start with Dart’s classmates, some of whom have already seen the field if only briefly:
If Dart does start, he’ll only be the second member of the Class of 2025 to do so. Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick, has started all three games for fellow winless team Tennessee. His stat line isn’t thrilling: 56.5% completion rate, 2 TDs, 1 INT, as many turnover-worthy plays as big-time time throws. And of course, zero wins, albeit against teams that have gotten off to a good start.
It’s too soon to evaluate him, though. Let’s go back a year to the more ballyhooed Class of 2024, now in their second year. These are the quarterbacks Dart will always be compared to since the Giants had a chance to draft one of them and chose Malik Nabers instead:
Jayden Daniels has had the most success of this group so far in his career. I’m sure most Giants fans would take him in an instant if they could. The jury is still out on Caleb Williams, who had a rough rookie year. His first two starts in 2025 were no bargain either, but he played very well this weekend… against the same defense that the maybe soon-to-be-benched Russell Wilson passed for 450 yards against. Most people think Drake Maye is...
