Daniel Jones’ 2024 season was a disaster for the Giants. To make matters worse, it came on the back of the team letting go of its prized jewel in Saquon Barkley—the guy who won the Eagles the Super Bowl in the same season. The QB debacle meant that the GM Joe Schoen had to go for a quarterback in the draft. Murmurs around the team drafting Shedeur Sanders were getting louder. The Giants. A top-10 QB going to a team that needed one made perfect sense, right? Except, the coaching staff said, ‘No, thank you,’ to the front office. Joe Schoen drafted Jaxson Dart, over the Deion Sanders prodigy. There’s still a wave of hesitance among some fans because the staff went over Sanders to choose the Ole Miss QB.

Dart is the first quarterback the Giants have drafted since getting Daniel Jones in 2019 at No. 6. He came with 8,201 passing yards, 52 TDs, and a problematic 29 INTs. Jones continued to have inconsistent performances after he signed another contract with the Giants in 2023. In the Cowboys game in the 2023 season, they simply flattened the Giants—Jones included—in a 40-0 win. Jones was pressured 23 times on dropbacks. After his 2024 performance, he asked the higher-ups for the release, knowing it was the best solution. The Giants knew that Jones was no longer the person they could depend on further down the line.

John Mara saw no point in hiding the obvious. “It’s obviously the No. 1 issue for us,” he said about the QB situation in camp. Sanders, up until the draft, was still hoping that the Giants would pick him in either the 1 or 2 round. Instead, Schoen & Co. went with Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart. Not many were happy with the decision, and Todd McShay thought it made no sense why the hate was coming. “Get out of here man. […] You got a general manager in Joe Schoen after – hard knocks – who’s just been a battering ram. You got a coach in Brian Daboll who’s one of the best at what he does: quarterbacks, offensive mind; who’s been handed nothing at quarterback. Nothing.” This is the first time since the duo drafted a QB for the Giants, after struggling to work Jones in the mix for years.

“[You] were stuck with him, and then resigned him. It’s a joke. And now, you get arguably the best player in the draft because Joe Schoen managed the whole thing,” McShay said exasperatedly. “Schoen manages it beautifully. Brian is a genius at this thing. He said, ‘Dart is our guy. Get out of here with the Shedeur stuff.’” Shedeur was passed down towards the tail end of the draft, only getting picked by the Browns on Day 3. McShay added, “You got a quarterback to develop and he doesn’t have to play right away. So, you can kind of wean him off of the training wheels that come with Lane Kiffin system.”

He alleged that the fans were “b—-ing and moaning” about Dart. He countered their complaints by saying, “I’m watching a player who processes as fast as anyone in this class when it comes to bullets flying, and things going on, and as competitive as all. Get out.” Daboll is an HC who knows what he’s doing. He went up to where the SEC QBs were in the draft and took Dart before the Rams could with the 26th pick. He is the guy for the role if Daboll wants an Eli Manning arc 2.0 because of the Ole Miss connection. Compared to Daniels, Dart has the upper hand in college stats, too. He finished his career with 11,970 yards, 81 TDs, and a pass completion percentage of 65.2%.

Daboll got his guy, and Dart looks like the perfect addition to the mix of seasoned QBs in New York. He also has a message for his now-teammate, a right veteran in the depth chart.

Jaxson Dart really wants to play with veteran QB Jameis Winston

At the Combine, Dart had a unique choice for the veteran he’d like to play with in his pro career. “[Everyone] was saying Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Montana. They asked me that question, and I said ‘Jameis Winston.’ I said Jameis. I want to train with Jameis.” Winston has been with the Giants for a decade now, and Dart will be joining a guy after watching him play when he was a kid.

“[If] you really pay attention to his workouts, though, he’s like actually grinding,” Dart told Overtime. “I feel like he would be the best teammate. Because you hear everybody talk about him like he’s super football intelligent, and I feel like he’d be a really good guy to learn from.” Winston is known for his non-traditional routines, which have produced results in his long-standing career, especially as a backup.

“[It’s] a surreal experience to be able to play here and play with those great guys, such an elite caliber,” the QB added further. Dart will be joining Russell Wilson, Winston, and Tommy DeVito, all resources to learn from in his first year. Dart has the skills to prove what Daboll had in mind when he drafted the QB. With some time, Dart soaks up all he can from such veterans. And then, he’d be able to translate all of that into a worthy answer to all his critics.