Ralph Vacchiano
NFL Reporter
John Mara didn’t mince his words when the Giants’ miserable 2024 season was over. He made it clear that his GM and coach were on a very hot seat. And when he called finding a franchise quarterback the team’s “No. 1 issue” of the offseason, he was basically ordering Joe Schoen to go find one.
Schoen, though, did even better than that in what might have been the team’s best first round of an NFL Draft since the Giants found their last franchise quarterback 21 years ago. The GM passed on a QB at pick No. 3, taking a franchise defender in edge rusher Abdul Carter instead. Then Schoen found a way to trade back into the first round — for second- and third-round picks this year and a 2026 third-rounder — taking franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25.
It was the Giants’ biggest move for a quarterback since Ernie Accorsi pulled off the deal for Eli Manning back in 2004. And it was an absolute home run for Schoen, who couldn’t afford anything less after a miserable 3-14 season and an ugly 18-32-1 record in his first three years running the team. He needed a big, bold strike like this to ensure he and head coach Brian Daboll had a chance to survive another year.
And the Giants absolutely needed a promising young quarterback like Dart after their expensive, five-year experiment with Daniel Jones went so horribly wrong at the end.
Of course, they have to be right about the 21-year-old Dart, who broke a bunch of passing records at Ole Miss that were once set by Manning. In his three years as a starter for the Rebels, Dart threw for 10,617 yards and 72 touchdowns with just 22 interceptions. That included 4,279 yards, 29 touchdowns and six interceptions last year.
But while the comparisons with Manning are obvious, those weren’t the important ones for Schoen and Daboll. According to a team source, they see Dart as their version of Josh Allen, the quarterback they helped groom when they both worked for the Buffalo Bills. Daboll, in particular, fell in love with Dart’s big arm during the pre-draft process, the source said, and his Allen-like mobility and toughness. The only big difference is that Allen has three inches and 15 pounds on Dart, who is a still sizeable 6-foot-2 and 223 pounds.
Not everyone around the NFL is convinced that Dart is a plug-and-play starter — which really is a common theme from scouts about almost every quarterback in this class. But that’s another part of the beauty of Schoen’s offseason. He already signed veteran Russell Wilson to be New York’s starter and Jameis Winston to be his backup, which means Dart won’t have to play this year at all.
That’s not necessarily an ideal scenario. Playing in games and getting the practice reps of a starter are essential for a young quarterback’s development. But there are countless examples of quarterbacks who sat on the sidelines for a year or even two and eventually thrived. Even Manning wasn’t a starter until midway through his rookie year.
But more importantly for the Giants, Schoen and Daboll are better off with a rookie quarterback biding his time instead of struggling through a season of rookie mistakes. They aren’t exactly on solid ground in their jobs. Mara made it clear back in January that “I’ve just about run out of patience.” And when asked if his GM and coach were on the hot seat, he ominously said, “We’re going to have to see. I’m going to have to be in a better mood this time next year than I am right now.”
The Giants are now set up for a better year. Daboll, multiple sources have said, is absolutely convinced that the quarterback has been the main source of their troubles over the past few years. One team source said he believes even competent quarterback play would’ve made the Giants a .500 team last year. Now he has a chance to prove it with an aging, but still productive, former Super Bowl champion in Wilson at the helm. And he gets to develop a potential future star, too.
In other words, it’s the best of both worlds. The Giants can try to win now (at least a little more than they have recently) while developing someone who can help them win in the future. And it’s not just Wilson that gives them hope for 2025. Carter, adding to a defensive front that includes Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence, gives them a defense that suddenly looks pretty scary, too.
And then in 2026, they can — in theory — turn the whole show over to Dart, in the hopes that he’ll be their next Manning, or maybe even their version of Allen. He certainly comes highly recommended. Daboll got great reports on him, a source said, from Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. — son of the former Giants offensive coordinator, who was one of Daboll’s mentors. He also got good reports from former Giants coach Joe Judge, who once was on the New England Patriots’ staff with Daboll and is now a senior analyst for the Rebels.
But mostly Daboll leaned on his own eyes and gut to pick Dart out as the quarterback he wanted — at least once it was clear that the Tennessee Titans were going to rebuff all their efforts to trade up to No. 1 to draft Miami quarterback Cam Ward. The Giants liked Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders as well, a source said. And they were impressed with Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
Dart, though, was the Giants’ guy and has been for a while. And once he was, Schoen worked hard to get him. He started making calls around pick 23, but he couldn’t get the Green Bay Packers or the Minnesota Vikings (at 24) to move. He wasn’t going to stop calling until someone took his deal. The Texans made sure he didn’t have to wait long.
Now the Giants may not have to wait long for a return to relevance — again, assuming Daboll and Schoen are right about these picks. When they signed the 36-year-old Wilson and the 31-year-old Winston this offseason, there was a worry that they wouldn’t end up with a young quarterback to grow behind them. And even though most scouts believe the quarterback class of 2026 will be loaded, it was always going to be a risk to wait.
But no more waiting. They’ve got Wilson/Winston for now, and Dart for later, giving them a chance to meet both of their boss’ objectives. Mara needs to be in a better mood, and the veteran quarterbacks, plus a terrifying pass rush, have a chance to put him there. And now they’ve added Dart, too, which means Mara’s “No. 1 issue” — finding that quarterback of the future — might finally be solved.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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