Jaxson Dart endured the kind of rough start to New York Giants training camp practices that could be expected from any rookie quarterback.
However, Jordan Raanan of ESPN pointed out that Dart “had his best practice” of the summer on Sunday when the 2025 first-round draft pick completed 11-of-14 passes while working with the second-team offense.
Dart later addressed what changed from when his first recorded pass of camp was intercepted and taken to the house for a touchdown.
“I felt like it slowed down just a little bit,” Dart explained, per the Giants’ website. “That first day, even a little bit the second day, there were just some plays that I hadn’t really run before. You’re getting mixed in with different groups of guys who you don’t have a ton of reps with, so you’re just trying to get that timing down with everybody. But I feel like today, going into it, I felt confident in the different installs that we had and I felt at the same time the coaches gave me a lot of freedom, so I was able to make some checks that I wanted to and I feel like that just allowed me to play just faster and be able to make quicker decisions.”
Head coach Brian Daboll likely won’t mind if it takes Dart time to grow comfortable in the Giants’ offense, as it’s been made clear that veteran Russell Wilson is the club’s undisputed starter heading into New York’s Week 1 game at the Washington Commanders on Sept. 7. For a piece published on Monday, ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote that Wilson “will get the start in the opener in Washington (and probably Week 2 against Dallas as well.”
On Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Wilson as a -750 betting favorite to emerge as the Giants’ Week 1 QB1.
Dart is spending the summer sharing a quarterback room with Wilson, backup Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito. DeVito is the only active quarterback on the roster who has taken meaningful snaps while playing in Daboll’s offense.
“I can definitely feel a difference in the first day to even today,” Dart added. “Just that the game’s starting to slow down a little bit, the more that I get comfortable with the plays and the system. …It’s definitely very humbling to be in a room with Russ, Jameis and Tommy, just guys that are extremely smart. But at the same time, I’m learning every second. So just trying to take in each opportunity and get better from it.”
Things slowing down for Dart could allow him to potentially leapfrog Winston on the depth chart by the end of the preseason. That said, it still seems likely that the 22-year-old will spend at least a portion of the regular season as a backup.
