Jaxson Dart leads the way he plays. That means the New York Giants rookie quarterback isn’t hiding from the past failures that have hung over the franchise like a dark cloud for the past decade. Instead, Dart is treating that negativity like a defender at the first-down marker. He’s running through it — headfirst (https://x.com/FanDuelPicks/status/1976470251354378248) .
Dart’s fearless style may be exactly what the Giants need to finally snap out of this prolonged funk. He was electric during — and after — Thursday’s stunning 34-17 domination of the Eagles (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6704879/2025/10/09/eagles-giants-score-result-takeaways-thursday-night-football/) .
“We can’t be naive to everything. We hear what people say. Definitely lights a fire in us,” Dart said. “I just think there’s, at times, some negativity that’s surrounding here. For us, some of the new guys that are coming here, we just got here, so we don’t feel like we were involved in the past.”
Dart completed 17-of-25 passes for 195 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He added 10 carries for 60 yards (excluding kneel downs) and a touchdown. While those stats are impressive, they don’t come close to telling the full story of the energy the rookie brought to his first career prime-time game and his first career division matchup.
“When you have a guy who can make loose plays, everything doesn’t have to be perfect. That’s a benefit. I’ve had guys like that before,” coach Brian Daboll said in an obvious reference to his time in Buffalo with reigning MVP Josh Allen. “This guy is a good guy to have.”
Daboll has notoriously tight-lipped in news conferences during his four-year tenure. But he can’t hide his exuberance for Dart. That’s not a surprise since Daboll staked his career on the 22-year-old, benching Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson three games into the season and making sure the world knew it was “my decision.” (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6658280/2025/09/24/jaxson-dart-giants-brian-daboll-starting-quarterback/)
Daboll tried to catch himself and slip back into coach-speak a few times after Thursday’s win, making sure to point out that the victory wasn’t about one player and that the whole team played an important role. But he couldn’t help himself, always returning to shower more affection on the quarterback he fell in love with during the pre-draft process.
“I’ve liked everything about Dart since we got him,” Daboll said.
Daboll’s reliance on Dart was on full display late in the third quarter when the quarterback got sacked and his head and neck bent awkwardly. Dart immediately brought his hands to the sides of his helmet as he laid on the turf, prompting the Giants’ medical staff to come to his aid.
After being down for a few minutes, Dart got up and jogged to the medical tent on the sideline for a concussion exam. It was the third time Dart has visited the tent for a concussion check in his young career, and Daboll was impatiently waiting for his quarterback to get back on the field.
The tent is strictly off-limits to coaches, but Daboll poked his head in to check on Dart before Wilson even took a snap. Moments later, Daboll was berating head team physician Dr. Scott Rodeo on the sideline about the delay in getting Dart back onto the field, which was a wild scene in the concussion-conscious NFL.
“If you’ve ever been on an NFL sideline, there’s a lot of emotions,” Daboll said. “I certainly am an emotional guy. I apologized directly to our team physician. I just wanted (Dart’s) ass out there if he was OK. … You want your guy out there.”
Dart has explained his mentality as a rusher ad nauseam.
“There’s just situations where if it’s third down, I’m going to get the first down,” Dart said. “In my mind when I’m running the ball, I’m trying to get a few yards and put our team in a really good situation. I understand that you got to take care of your body. I definitely try to do my best with that. In situations where things are important, I’m going to do my best to get that done.”
Dart’s legs are what make him so dangerous. The Giants were faced with a third-and-8 at Philadelphia’s 20-yard line on their opening possession. The Eagles’ pass rush got immediate penetration, but Dart stepped up through the pressure. That left him alone with All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun in the open field. Dart blew past Baun with a subtle juke, then raced untouched into the end zone. The Giants have scored touchdowns on the opening possession of all three of Dart’s starts after doing so just four times in the previous 54 games under Daboll.
JAXSON DART DOES IT HIMSELF.
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