For the better part of 16 seasons, the New York Giants never had to think much about who their starting quarterback would be – year after year, it was the former 1st round pick out of Ole Miss, Eli Manning. But since his retirement in 2019, the Giants have seen 8 different quarterbacks take their turn as the team’s starter, none of whom were able to achieve a winning record.
When this season begins, Russell Wilson will become starter number 9 in the post-Eli era, but it’s the one they’re anticipating taking the reins after Russ that has fans most intrigued. Another 1st round pick who also happens to hail from Ole Miss… Jaxson Dart.
“[Dart] has an aura and an energy about him where that whole team is ‘like, oh, hell yeah, this kid’s the real deal.’ He has that. He always has,” said former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Matt Leinart on the most recent episode of Throwbacks. “There’s a trait, like the ‘it factor,’ you heard that, but there’s a certain aura, like Joe Burrow has it, right? There’s a little bit of a swag. You see it in all these sports. Baker Mayfield has it. [Jaxson Dart] has it.”
Through 2 preseason games, the rookie signal caller for Big Blue has gone 26-for-35 with 291 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and a passer rating of 117.7. Obviously, preseason numbers can be deceiving but for a franchise that has been starved of a truly exciting, young quarterback, those numbers will leave worn down Giants fans eager for more.
“I think [Russell Wilson] knows at this point in his career, it’s like, there’s probably a short leash with my play,” said Leinart. “And especially when you draft the first-round draft pick.”
But despite the hype and desire to see more of Dart, Leinart contends that once the regular season rolls around, it might be in his best interest not to play at all.
“The best thing Jaxson can do is just sit this year and learn. Like, maybe play some, maybe get some meaningful snaps here and there but, like, sit and learn because you have two guys, by the way – if they keep three, they keep Jameis [Winston] – they got two dudes who’ve played a lot of football in the NFL. Jameis would be a great guy to learn from as well.”
When the Giants last 1st rounder out of Ole Miss joined the team, he sat and watched former Super Bowl winning, veteran QB Kurt Warner. Now, New York will hope for a little bit of history repeating with this 1st rounder out of Ole Miss and the former Super Bowl winning veteran QB that he’ll be watching in Russell Wilson.
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