With 53-man rosters finalized on Wednesday morning, Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll spoke to reporters to give their thoughts on how training camp went and what they hope to accomplish this season, as well as fielding questions about the quarterback room, specifically Jaxson Dart.
After his selection in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft in which New York traded up to snag him, it was evident that the team felt that Dart was the future of the franchise. Since then, from rookie camp to preseason action, Dart has looked the part while doing everything the Giants have asked of him.
Of course, with veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston on the roster, the 22-year-old will begin his career sitting on the bench to continue to learn and grow as much as he can until he's handed the keys. And although Schoen gave praise to the rookie, he confirmed (like Daboll has many times as well) that Wilson is the starter.
"The timeline will be the timeline, however it works out," Schoen said in regards to when Dart might see some game action.
Still, Schoen made it clear how he feels about Dart, citing the progress he's made all summer, and made sure to attribute some of that to the people and players around the rookie quarterback.
"The room in general has been good throughout spring and camp. [Daboll], Shea [Tierney], [Mike] Kafka, those guys have done a really good job getting Jaxson up to speed and there’s a lot. There’s a lot to learn at the quarterback position and there’s a lot put on their plate and it’s hard for young players to come in and not only be able to learn it, but break the huddle, go up there, motion, read the defense, understand what’s going on, if there’s option routes and then go execute.Â
"So he’s shown the ability to do that this spring which we’re happy [about]. So all in all, the preseason games he executed well and there’s still a lot of room for growth there… Luckily he’s in a room surrounded by veterans that have played in this league for quite some time and I think that will provide dividends down the road being around Russell and Jameis."
Not only are Schoen and the Giants excited about Dart's continued development, they're also eager to start the season with Wilson as the starter to give the rookie someone to watch from the sidelines before getting thrusted into a starting role.
In fact, since Schoen got to New York, it's the first time that the quarterback room consists of two veterans, one of them the starter, and a rookie with no pressure to save the team.
"As far as Russell, the leadership has been tremendous from the minute he walked into the building, not just on offense or in the quarterback room but across the entire team," Schoen said. "He’s looked good this camp, he had a good camp, he’s in good shape and we’re excited to see what it looks like when we come to the regular season."
Whether it leads to wins remains to be seen, but at the very least, the construction of the QB room has much less question marks or uncertainty surrounding it which has the GM feeling good entering the season.Â
The depth at the quarterback position is also much deeper than it's been in the past with New York having to waive Tommy DeVito who was just claimed by the New England Patriots and who surely had a few other interested suitors.
"We would’ve loved to have [DeVito] back, he was claimed and we wish him nothing but the best," Schoen said.
As for what most stood out to Schoen about Dart since watching him play for the last four months, the general manager said it was his quickness at learning and understanding what he needs to do in the NFL and his ability to transfer that onto the actual field.
"With rookie quarterbacks I would always say how long it’s gonna take them to get to speed and be able to go out and execute it," Schoen said. "It’s one thing to be able to learn in the classroom and regurgitate it, but to be able to go out and actually execute it and do it quickly and correctly, I would say Jaxson impressed me in terms of, not that he couldn’t do it or we didn’t think he could, but impressed me in terms of how quickly he was able to pick it up and actually execute and play fast. I would say that’s something that you don’t typically see with rookie quarterbacks at times and he was able to do that."