The New York Giants trading up and drafting quarterback Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss is already paying off.
Dart has impressed the coaching staff thus far with first team and second team practice reps at minicamp, which wraps up on June 18 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He’s part of a deep quarterback room with veterans Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and Tommy DeVito, and Dart is making a name for himself already as the Giants enter a transitional season at quarterback after parting ways with former No. 6 pick Daniel Jones last year.
“Kind of the head statesman in terms of that with all the adjustments that take place and the calls. He’s fit right in with those guys. He’s smart, aggressive with the football, which I like. And then the true test will be once we start with live hitting and preseason games and things like that. He’s progressed since he’s been here,” Daboll continued. “He’s made improvement.”
Dart threw for 11,970 yards and 81 touchdowns in college between his time at Ole Miss and USC. The Giants have time to develop Dart with Wilson and Winston on the roster this year and possibly beyond if needed, but Dart’s first and second reps bodes well for his development.
“Well, it’s good to get him in with the ones. There’s usually a level of anxiety at times for young players when they get thrown into the mix,” Daboll said. “It’s not exactly planned in terms of him getting reps there. Sometimes we‘ll just say ’get in there.' Then he’s calling plays in front of veterans that have done it at a high level.”
“I think that’s important. Or, put him with the threes for a while where he’s got to kind of instruct some other guys that are asking questions about things,” Daboll added. “And just try to get him as many different situations as you can.”
That said, Daboll has a clear system for developing Dart. It goes back to Daboll’s time as a college assistant coach in the SEC where Dart recently played.
“Again, there’s a lot of information for quarterbacks, I’d say, in any system,” Daboll said. “But I think throwing it at them, bringing it back, breaking it down into smaller parts, and then throwing it back at them—or kind of whole-part-whole philosophy, I learned that from coach (Nick) Saban.”
For now, Wilson looks poised to be the starter, and Winston is second on the depth chart ahead of Dart. That order may not change during training camp next month but Dart’s early growth could give him a shot of moving ahead of Winston in late July or August.
“But he’s done a really good job of coming in here and understanding what he’s got to do to make himself a pro and approaching it the right way,” Tierney added.
New York traded the No. 34 pick to move up to the No. 25 pick and select Dart this past April. It marks the second time the Giants have had a rookie quarterback from Ole Miss since 2000, and the first turned out well with Eli Manning who led the team to a pair of Super Bowls in the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
