New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is in a tough spot.
At the conclusion of Week 4 of this season’s NFL schedule, the Giants sat in last place, at 1–3, in the NFC East. After Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints on the road at Caesars Superdome, 26–14, the Giants, at 1–4, remained in fourth place in their division.
This Thursday, the Philadelphia Eagles will be busing to New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium looking to increase their 4–1 record at the Giants’ expense. The difference between success for the Giants on offense comes down to how well Dart is up for the task.
However, learning how to execute plays and rapidly reading defensive schemes with little or no experience has been a challenge for New York’s coaching staff.
After opening the 101st season of Giants football 0–3, New York’s head coach Brian Daboll, now in his fourth season, handed over the reins of the offense to Dart in Week 4. With a well prepared game plan, and assistance from Lady Luck, Dart pulled out the Giants’ first victory of 2025: 21–18 over the visiting Los Angeles Chargers. Dart, 22, rushed for a 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter. As the third quarter was winding down, Dart, drafted by the Giants this past April in the first round out of Ole Miss, tossed a three-yard pass to tight end Theo Johnson to put the game out of reach for the Chargers.
Dart’s impressive inaugural NFL game came after veteran signal caller Russell Wilson, who during his 10 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks led his team to a Super Bowl victory in 2014, was unable to energize the offense in the first three games of the season. Daboll and Giants’ offensive coordinator Mike Kafka benched Wilson and sent in Dart as his replacement against the Chargers.
Given that the Giants are playing without receiver Malik Nabers, who is out for the season after tearing his right knee ACL, Dart performed admirably. Daboll and Kafka elected to initiate Dart, and not send in backup Jameis Winston, who like Wilson, is an accomplished veteran. With more than 10 years in the NFL, including four with New Orleans, Winston remained on the sidelines with helmet in hand.
With optimism high that Dart’s winning ways would carry over to a road trip against the Saints, Giants’ coaching staff, at first, remained high on their young quarterback’s abilities. The Giants’ opening drive on Sunday resulted in a Dart to Theo Johnson touchdown pass, again. Capitalizing on the scoring play inside the red zone (inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line) had New York jump out ahead of the Saints 7–0. In the second quarter, again, the Dart-Johnson combination proved to be dangerous to New Orleans’ defense. With 10 plays and 70 yards, the Giants’ score increased their lead to 14–3. But, this would be the final scoring directed by Dart in the game.
The Saints fired back with three field goals and a touchdown to lock down their first victory of the season.
Playing for such a historic NFL franchise as the Giants, located in the largest media market in America, has its rewards. The quarterback, as seen by the football public as the team’s leader, when he’s successful, by any means is viewed as the “toast of the town.”
Retired Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning starred for 16 seasons with the team. During his run with the Giants, Manning led his teammates to two Super Bowl titles. Since Manning’s exit after the 2019 season, the Giants have struggled to replace him with a player they could mold after him.
No matter how much individual talent the Giants have amass, to win consistently, they have to play as a team. Will the New York football public have the patience required for a rookie to find his way, which could take a couple of seasons before coming to fruition? Will another run of consecutive losses have Giants’ coaching staff resort back to Wilson, or give Winston his first shot at proving what a quarterback with 100-plus NFL games experience would do to charge up the offense? The Eagles, heading into Week 5, trotted out onto the field a struggling defense. Ranked 22nd in NFL team defense, the Eagles fell to the Denver Broncos on Sunday 21–17.
In anticipation of Thursday’s game with Philadelphia, Dart needs to work on cutting down on turnovers. In Sunday’s game with the Saints, the Giants lost three fumbles, including one by Dart. Also, with just 202 yards passing in New Orleans, Dart will need to get more ambitious in looking down field for an open receiver. The Giants are averaging 17.4 points a game (28th among 32 teams) and allowing opposing offenses to score an average of 25.4 (22nd among teams in the NFL).
How Dart reacts to coming off a loss, after securing his first pro win one week earlier, will be evident against Philadelphia. Two weeks later, in Week 8, the Giants will do the busing to Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia.
Slow and steady may work in the business world or class room, but in the NFL, particularly in New York, it’s what have you done lately that most football fans care about. Dart’s performance on Thursday, already, has all the markings of the most important game of his short NFL life. Just how much of a leash coach Daboll is willing to give his young quarterback is yet unknown.
