Giants have just one QB decision to make: How to build around Jaxson Dart
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. --The decision wouldn't be easy, but they felt they had the process in place to make the right one. The Jetswould evaluate every quarterback in the 2021 draft. They'd then put Sam Darnold, their current starter, right there with them.
Best player available. That's who they'd take second overall. If it was a rookie: They'd trade Darnold. If that was Darnold: They'd trade the pick.
The second to last line of Joe Douglas' scouting report on Zach Wilson read: Would draft over Sam." So, that's what the Jets did.
The Giants can learn a thing or two about their fellow MetLife Stadium tenant's unfortunate transgressions. The only quarterback decision for them this offseason should be how they want to build around Jaxson Dart.
The headlines are already surfacing here and there. The Giants, who finished this season 4-13 after a 34-17 win over the Cowboys on Sunday, will pick sixth or betterin the NFL Draft, pending the outcoming of the 4 p.m. games. Fernando Mendoza won't be there. Dante Moore, Tyler Simpson could be. Brian Daboll pioneered the efforts to draft Dart. His infatuation might not be shared with the new staff.
So, trade Dart (potentially to the Raiders if that's where Daboll ends up), recoup draft capital, draft the quarterback Kevin Stefanski, or whoever Joe Schoen and John Mara end up hiring, believes has higher upside. Move forward.
It's not entirely flawed logic. It's just not smart.
You know what the Giants would hope Moore or Simpson or any other rookie looks like in 2026?
What Dart did in 2025.
The Ole Miss product is not a perfect player. There's a reason most around the NFL believed him to be a Day 2 draft pick. He's unpolished inside the pocket. He processes, at times, a tad late. He can be reckless with his running. There are limitations with his arm talent. All true.
But Dart showed something during this dismal Giants season far too many rookies don't: He can play. It's not always pretty. It's not always by design or within structure. But he can play. He finished this year completing 63.7 percent of his passes for 2,272 yards with 15 touchdowns and just five interceptions, he added another 487 yards and another nine scores on the game.
His final stat line against the Cowboys, surrounded by very little in terms of talent: 22 of 32 passing for 231 yards with two touchdowns, he rushed five times for 32.
Mendoza is absolutely a better processor and pocket passer than Dart is right now. Moore, Simpson have better physical skills. There's a good chance, even if Schoen himself unveils his draft card, they have a higher numerical grade than the one he gave Dart a year ago.
But that's on paper -- no different than Douglas' higher grade on Wilson than Darnold. What you don't know is if those college passers can do what you've seen Dart do. Not just individually, but his leadership, the elevating of players around him.
Don't roll the dice and risk things getting worse. You work to improve what you have, when you know what you have is pretty good.
Dart's inefficiencies can all be worked on, improved on. There's likely a ceiling to his game, but the baseline of what you know you can accomplish with him is so tantalizing. Instead of starting over, do everything you can to get everything you can out of Dart.
Add more playmakers. Fix the offensive line. Give him a defense that can keep games to one possession so Dart can tilt them in the fourth quarter.
That should be the only discussion for the Giants this offseason.
Assuming common sense prevails.