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All right, let us begin with the topic
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duour today after last night's preseason
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action across the NFL and the New York
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Giants young quarterback of Jackson
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Dart. Dart has another touchdown pass
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under his belt. He has a running
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touchdown last night against the Jets as
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well. And suddenly the toast of New York
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happens to be the former quarterback at
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all miss. And I am one that actually
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believes in Dart despite such a small
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sample size. And I'll tell you why. It's
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not that I've seen enough to convince me
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that he's a, you know, certainty at the
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position. But what I think is very clear
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is the amount of reps, the amount of
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starts, the amount of passes he has
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thrown in college. And in today's
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generation, your Elite 11 camps, your
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passing camps, and the like, Jackson
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Dart looks like he is very comfortable
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in the pace, in the rhythm, in the speed
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of the Giants offense and in an NFL
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offense. Now, again, this is preseason.
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Things get fired up to a next level. So,
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I never go crazy about preeason stuff.
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And that's why last week I was
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mentioning how Shidor Sanders, let's
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take a pause. It's a really good step
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forward, but it is not a full picture of
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whether he is ready to start or not or
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whether that he was he's busted
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everybody's predictions that he was a
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bust. There's no way to know. And
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there's no way to know about Jax Nort
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yet either. But Dart's composure in this
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offense is not only a compliment to how
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Brian Dable has fashioned the offense,
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but also a compliment to him. In both
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the games against the Bills and the
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Jets, you have seen him drop back to
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pass, look through his reads, make a
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pass. And what I like about Jackson Dart
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is he already has a certain pocket
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presence that I think is hard to come by
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when you're a young quarterback. I look
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at Daniel Jones, who the Giants invested
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so much time in, and I feel like he
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never looked as comfortable as Jackson
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Dart has looked at times in the pocket
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already. you'll see Dart drop back to
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pass, namely this touchdown that he
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threw down the sideline against the
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Bills last week in in preseason game
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number one. When he stood in against the
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Rush, Rush came in, he stood tall and
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still delivered the pass. I thought
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that's an interesting throw because he
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didn't try to side shake. He didn't try
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to be elusive. He didn't go duck down.
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He stood there, threw it, hit it. He did
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that on a couple of occasions against
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the Bills. did the same thing last night
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against the Jets. That's something that
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only comes with the understanding of
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lots of reps, lots of games, lots of
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starts, lots of passes. And for the
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Giants brass, who was nearly thrown out
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last year, remember how many people
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wanted both Brian Dable and Joe Shane
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tossed out with another disastrous
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season in New York, another nonplayoff
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season, planes flying overhead at Metife
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Mara was criticized roundly for sticking
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with these guys, but by doing so, look
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what ended up happening.
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This team now has a real hope and
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optimism that they've built a nucleus of
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guys from high-end draft picks and some
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savvy free agent signings that you can
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really build a team around. Just from
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drafting over the last 5 to 6 years, you
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were talking about Malik Neighbors at
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wide receiver, Kavon Tibido as a pass
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rusher, Jackson Dart as a quarterback,
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and Abdul Carter as a pass rusher as
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well. Those are massively important
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pieces to have if you're ever going to
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turn the corner. Now, it doesn't
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guarantee anything for the Giants this
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year, and I think that anytime that a
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guy becomes the flavor of the week,
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especially in New York, you've got to
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guard against it. on Monday, everyone's
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going to be talking about Jackson Dart,
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and that's the last thing you want with
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a young QB. But what I've seen from him
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is a certain maturity and expectation of
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what the event is going to be, what it's
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going to look like, what he needs to do,
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and he's doing it. And that's a huge
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step forward for a young quarterback. I
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still don't think the Giants should
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start him out of the blocks. I don't
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think there's any reason to. You let
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Russell Wilson go out there and take
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some early bullets for the team. you
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know that he's a temporary solution.
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What you're sensing is at very worst
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Dart is going to be your starting
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quarterback. Week 1, 2026 is what you
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hope. So, you let 2025 simply be. You
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only put him in there when he's ready
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and the team is ready around him. There
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is no sense in rushing this. And then as
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you watch him grow, you pick your spot
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strategically and say, "Now it's your
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era." Because the early returns on Dart
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is this is not going to be a work in
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progress. And I'm not talking about will
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he not have ups and downs. He will have
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downs. He will throw interceptions. He
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will make bad mistakes and bad
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decisions. That happens. But another
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young quarterback in town across town
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with the New York Jets, Sam Darnold. Get
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in there and do something. Zack Wilson,
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get in there and save us. That's never
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the right situation for a young QB. It
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ruined those two guys at least early in
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their career. Maybe Darnold now ends up
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having a great second half of his
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career, but it feels like Zack Wilson's
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always going to be, you know, nothing.
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Don't push him in there too early, even
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though the early returns are really
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good. Wait and be patient. But the early
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returns are very good. And Jackson Dart
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looks the part of a starting
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quarterback, something the Giants have
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been sorely lacking ever since the
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retirement of Eli Manning.
