Legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee Bill Parcells is known for his set of guidelines for evaluating quarterbacks, which includes being a three-year starter, graduating from college, starting at least 30 games and winning at least 23, maintaining a 2:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and completing at least 60 percent of passes. Jaxson Dart, the New York Giants’ recent first-round selection in the NFL Draft, fulfills all of these criteria. During his first preseason with the Giants in 2025, Dart completed 32 of his 42 passes (68.1 percent) for 372 yards and three touchdowns without any interceptions. He also rushed for an additional 52 yards and scored once.
Reflecting on Dart’s presence and performance in preseason camp, Giants running back Devin Singletary said: “Dart’s got that aura about him (… ) Coming in as a rookie, he’s not nervous about anything. He’s attacking everything head-on. He’s not afraid to make a check if he has to. You can see he can make all the throws. We got ourselves a dog with JD, for sure.”
Dart established himself as a record-setting three-year starter at Ole Miss before joining the NFL. He left Ole Miss as the program’s all-time leader in wins (28) and led the team to consecutive seasons with ten wins — something not seen since the 1960s. Dart is one of only four players in Southeastern Conference history to surpass 12,000 total career yards and holds single-season school records previously held by Eli Manning.
This preseason performance caught attention outside the organization as well. Dan Orlovsky commented: “Jaxson Dart was great again. Four drops took away another 100+ yards as well. His eyes were where they should be (… ) He was sudden with what he did and moved (… ) Very good ball placement (… ) He has an incredibly bright future with the @Giants (… ) They should still start Russell Wilson to begin…”
Analyst Mike Tannenbaum weighed in earlier this month by stating: “Jaxson Dart is a better player and athlete than Russell Wilson (… ) I understand there’s going to be growing pains, but he is somebody that’s energized this franchise. He understands what to do. And when you talk to the Giants organization, they’re actually more thrilled with what he’s doing off the field than on the field.” Tannenbaum added: “Russell Wilson, to me, is an athletically diminished player. He was sacked at a rate 31 percent above the league average. So, is it going to be perfect from Day One? Absolutely not. He will make mistakes. But a young, ascending Jaxson Dart is what the New York Giants franchise needs because that’ll make them better in November and December.” Concluding his remarks on Wilson’s future Tannenbaum said: “Russell Wilson, who’s had a good career, is clearly closer to the end.”
Giants head coach Brian Daboll has named Russell Wilson as starter for now as New York opens on the road against Washington and Dallas in back-to-back weeks; however, there are indications that Dart could take over sooner rather than later.
Dart finished preseason play with an adjusted completion percentage of eighty percent after New York traded up during April’s draft for him; he currently holds a four-year $17 million contract—the only long-term quarterback deal on their roster.
Asked about his role behind Wilson at present time Dart responded: “I’m just shifting my perspective to be the best teammate I can be (… ) Russ has completely earned that role for him (… ) He’s played amazing (…) For me I just want to be the best teammate and I want this team to win (…) Whatever my role is for that to happen I’m going to do that to the best of my ability.”
