Film breakdown: Jaxson Dart — the good, and the bad of the new Giants’ QB

Let’s dive into the film

The New York Giants traded the 34th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, along with two third-round selections, to move back into the first round and snag the youngest quarterback in the draft, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart. The Giants were linked to Dart through the pre-draft process, and the rumors intensified in the days leading up to the draft. Dart is now a New York Giant.

Below is the moment when Dart received the phone call from the Giants:

Here is my synopsis of Dart’s play, along with an All-22 breakdown of Dart:

Strengths

• Slightly shorter but sufficient with solid thickness
• Good athlete with above-average mobility
• Light quick feet on drop back – solid footwork
• Poised under pressure – will take big hit
• Good overall feel in the pocket on when to run, slide, step-up, or bail
• Controlled and balanced mover with above-average ability to throw on the move
• Quickly identified the structure of the defense and found the offense’s answer
• Was able to quickly find answers pre-to-post snap in Kiffin’s system
• Excellent decision-making in his offense
• Good overall arm talent with solid arm strength and velocity
• Solid enough arm talent to throw off-platform
• Has enough arm strength to rip far-hash throws
• Good overall accuracy in the short, intermediate, and deep parts of the field
• Pin-point timing on back shoulder fade routes
• Very good processing on when to throw with anticipation
• Can change arm-angle to throw threw the forest
• Understands touch & pacing – has varying speeds on his passes
• Can layer footballs over the middle of the field
• Throws receivers open – leads his receivers to maximize YAC
• Good distributor of the football at every level of the field
• Excellent ability to operate out of the RPO
• Good footwork/patience into the mesh point – puts LBs into conflict
• Reads and is decisive with the ball on RPO and other packaged plays
• Effective runner of the football
• Has good overall vision when taking off
• Is not afraid to lower his shoulder – good play strength and toughness
• Excellent gamer – several big plays in key moments through 2024
• Plays with a chip on his shoulder

Weaknesses

• Good but not excellent athlete – won’t be a calling card of his at the next level
• Played in a simplified Lane Kiffin RPO-system
• Shot-gun exclusive offense
• Was not pressured much in Kiffin’s system – QB friendly system
• May need to be more crisp and precise with his feet in certain systems
• Transition to NFL speed & space may be too much
• Good overall accuracy but will miss some throws that are frustrating
• Questions about processing in the NFL are fair
• Questionable decision making when pressure gets home

Jaxson Dart is an interesting college quarterback who operated Lane Kiffin’s fast-paced RPO-Spread system efficiently while leveraging his good overall arm talent to challenge defenses downfield. One of the most controversial parts of Dart’s evaluation is the transition from Kiffin’s offense – which provided isolated QB-friendly reads and packaged RPO plays – to the NFL, where space is limited and the defensive athletes move much faster, albeit the offense does possess pro concepts as well. Coaches and people with access to Dart may be able to discern his quarterbacking knowledge beyond Kiffin’s scheme, but it remains a bit nebulous to outsiders. With that stated, there are reasons to believe Dart projects well to the next level.

Dart has good overall arm talent and he CAN push the ball vertically with above-average accuracy. I wouldn’t say Dart has elite arm talent or the biggest arm in the world, but it’s sufficient for the NFL game; he has enough arm strength to access every part of the football field. He is willing to stand tall in the pocket and deliver through contact; he is a tough guy. He’s enough of an athlete to escape muddy pockets at the next level; I would say slightly worse than Bo Nix from last year’s draft, who just rushed for 430 yards in his rookie season.

Overall, Dart is about to experience an entirely different – and possibly more challenging – way of playing quarterback, for the NFL is not conducive to the style he thrived within over the last three seasons. Dart was obviously comfortable in Kiffin’s scheme – that’s a good thing! Still, the conjecture about his transition may be detectable in a meeting room or during a workout, but the true nature of that transition may not be ascertained until semi-live reps (training camp). I am also slightly concerned about Dart’s decision-making under pressure, which he should see much more of in the NFL. Nevertheless, Dart is a solid prospect to bank on for development due to his projectable traits.

Below, a look at some of Dart’s strengths and weaknesses: