The Giants get their quarterback
The New York Giants secured their long-sought quarterback of the future on Thursday by trading up into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.
The Giants traded picks 34, 99 and a 2026 third-round pick to the Houston Texans for pick No. 25 in Round 1. Shedeur Sanders of Colorado was also still on the board when the Giants selected Dart.
The Giants selected Penn State edge defender Abdul Carter with the third overall pick.
Dart, 21, spent a season at USC and then three years at Ole Miss. He played in 45 college games with 41 starts. In 2024, he completed 276 of 398 passes for 4,279 yards with 29 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He was named first-team All-SEC.
The last time the Giants drafted a quarterback out of Ole Miss, Eli Manning, that worked out fairly well. Dart has called Manning “a huge role model for me.”
With 37-year-old 13-year veteran Russell Wilson and 31-year-old 10-year veteran Jameis Winston on the roster, 2025 is likely to be a developmental year for Dart. He won’t face the pressure of having to start immediately.
Valentine’s View
This move makes Round 1 a home run for the Giants. I wrote Wednesday about the dual objectives GM Joe Schoen had in this draft — get better for 2025 and find someone in the draft Schoen and Brian Daboll could sell to ownership as the franchise quarterback of the future.
Schoen hit both marks. In getting Dart, he got the youngest quarterback in the class and the one most analysts believed the Giants were targeting before the draft.
Scouting reports
Dart is not universally loved by the scouting community. Check out the reports below.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic:
With his physical tools and rhythm passing, he was an ideal fit in Kifn’s quarterback-friendly ofense, although the simplistic nature of the scheme leaves NFL scouts questioning his post-snap decision-making process when reads aren’t as structured and predetermined. The other key concern is his tendency to prematurely drop his eyes once the pocket gets heated. However, his athleticism to buy time and scramble for positive yards is an asset. Overall, Dart needs time to develop his progression-based reads and anticipation (things he wasn’t asked to regularly do in college), but he is a natural thrower of the football with promising mobility and high-level competitive intangibles. If allowed to develop at his own pace, he offers NFL starting upside in the right situation.
Pro Football Focus:
A natural athlete and solid playmaker, Dart has earned an elite passing grade over the last two seasons. His playing style is enticing — he is light on his feet in the pocket, capable of slipping sacks and possesses a decently quick release. His arm strength appears average by NFL standards. He is too comfortable throwing off his back foot, even when not under pressure. While his tape shows plenty of deep throws, his ball placement on those attempts leaves more to be desired. He is experienced in throwing concept routes that put a single defender in conflict (e.g., slant-flat, curl-flat, smash) but lacks anticipation when making full-field reads. His mobility is solid, and he is best suited for a shotgun-based system, having taken just eight snaps under center over the last two seasons.
Matt Waldman of The Rookie Scouting Portfolio:
If Dart can unlock his accuracy beyond 25-30 yards, look out. How he’ll do it? Good luck.
That’s the gist of Dart’s scouting report if you only have 10 seconds. Dart’s evaluation would scare me off him as an NFL decision-maker unless there’s an excellent veteran ahead of him and years to watch, learn, and work on his vertical game with the advice of players who also had to work at it.
Otherwise, Dart’s game has a Jekyll-Hyde quality to it. His accuracy is solid-to-good in the shallow and intermediate zones. He can maneuver well from pressure, and he’s a chain-moving runner who can buy time before opting to break the pocket.
Dart’s pre-draft love feels more like a projection of what he can be than what his game currently is, but it’s not as bad of projection Zach Wilson’s. It’s closer to Drew Lock and J.J. McCarthy. If the work ethic is there, success could be imminent. If it’s not, Dart may not finish his first contract as a starter.
SB Nation:
Jaxson Dart is a well-built, experienced quarterback with the physical tools and competitive mindset to develop into a potential starter at the next level. He played in an up-tempo, play-action heavy offense that utilized rhythm passing and a lot of RPO looks. Dart has adequate arm strength to push the ball down the field and drive it to the sideline. Ole Miss’ offense did not often ask him to make full-field reads, which is an area he will have to work on to become a reliable starter in the NFL. Dart ideally lands with a quarterback-needy team that currently employs a short-term veteran as their 2025 starter while he continues to develop in his rookie season.
Giants round-by-round draft selections
Round 1 (No. 3) — Abdul Carter, edge, Penn State
Round 1 (No. 25 … via Texans) — Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss
Round 3 (No. 65) —
Round 4 (No. 105) —
Round 5 (No. 154) —
Round 7 (No. 219) —
Round 7 (No. 246) —
More draft coverage
- 2025 NFL Draft – Official Big Blue View Big Board
- Pre-draft ‘things I think’: New York Giants GM Joe Schoen has unenviable task
- Big Blue View rules for draft success, 2025 edition
- New York Giants draft scouting reports: All of BBV’s prospect profiles
- New York Giants Draft Hub Page
- Quarterback scouting reports: What NFL Draft analysts, scouts are saying about 2025 class
- SB Nation’s position-by-position prospect rankings
How to watch the rest of the draft
- Rounds 2–3: Friday, April 25 at 7 p.m. ET
- Rounds 4–7: Saturday, April 26 at Noon ET
TV Channels: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network
Streaming Options: ESPN+, NFL+, YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live TV, Fubo TV, Sling TV
Other BBV platforms
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