It took the New York Giants a few years to find their next franchise quarterback, but they finally found him in the form of Jaxson Dart in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Dart burst onto the scene and was electric from the start, making plays with both his arm and his legs, even though his heroics didn’t move the team up in the standings.
Dart played recklessly, putting himself in harm’s way far too often for the team and its fans’ liking. He suffered a concussion, causing him to miss two games, and was checked several times for others.
From Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports:
Dart was a high-wire act, chasing big plays with his legs, especially, but his arm as well. He logged the fourth-highest scramble rate and the ninth-highest deep throw rate in the NFL. Those tendencies led to a wide range of outcomes. Among 29 players with at least 300 dropbacks, Dart ranked …
And, of course, his heavy reliance on scrambling led to some big collisions, one concussion (missed two games) and visits to the medical tent seemingly every other game.
Dart was excellent as a runner in 2025. His 65% rushing success rate was second among all quarterbacks, and he scored an astounding nine rushing touchdowns in just 12 starts. He found success as a designed runner and as a scrambler; his 0.76 expected points added per scramble ranked third.
There wasn’t much tape on Dart for opponents to prepare for him as a rookie, but that won’t be the case this season. Opposing defensive coordinators are already formulating ways to stop him.
That is, if he doesn’t stop himself first. He can run, for sure, but he needs to be a more accurate passer for him to truly be considered a top quarterback in the NFL.
Dart’s passing was hit-or-miss. He didn’t have Malik Nabers for essentially the entire season, Cam Skattebo also got hurt, and the Giants ranked 24th in non-quarterback rushing success rate.
Dart needs to make life easier on himself as a more anticipatory thrower who isn’t constantly looking to extend. According to Pro Football Focus, Dart was at least somewhat responsible for the pressure 39.1% of his pressured dropbacks, by far the highest rate on record. For reference, the second-highest rate last year belonged to Shedeur Sanders at 29.1%.
The Giants won’t get much better as a team until Dart takes those next steps and plays more flawlessly while keeping defenses backpedaling.
Dart’s next steps toward success include better situational and pocket awareness and a greater willingness to take the gains that are there, rather than placing such a large focus on big plays or out-of-structure plays. That’s the biggest reason he finished 26th out of 29 players (min. 300 dropbacks) in PFF’s passing grades.
Many believe those improvements will come in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: What is the Year 2 outlook for New York Giants QB Jaxson Dart?
