The New York Giants selected Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart with the 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. He is only the seventh quarterback taken by the Giants in the first round since the draft was instituted in 1936.

The Giants have had mixed results with their first-round quarterback selections over time.

Here’s a quick report card of how they’ve fared:

Travis Tidwell: Round 1, Pick 7, 1950

Travis Tidwell was a World War II veteran who went on to star at Auburn. He led the nation in offense as a freshman in 1946 and orchestrated the Tigers’ first win over Alabama in over 40 years. He was the MVP of the Senior Bowl (go figure). However, his success did not translate to the pro level. Tidwell played just 14 games for Big Blue and then played several seasons in Canada before retiring.

Lee Grosscup: Round 1, Pick 10, 1959

If you want to know why the Giants were lost in the wilderness in the 1960s and 70s, look no further than picks like this. Why they drafted Lee Grosscup was kind of a mystery. He did have some success in college at Utah and was seen as a bit of an innovator. But the Giants were a league power at that time and decided to trade for Y.A. Tittle instead of handing the keys over to Grosscup. He played in just eight games for the Giants and was out of the NFL after the 1961 season. Grosscup would go on to become a successful sportscaster, mainly on the college level.

Phil Simms: Round 1, Pick 7, 1979

Phil Simms was the first pick of the George Young era. The Reader’s Digest version of Simms’ career is this: his first five seasons were riddled with injuries and inconsistency before the light went on in 1984 and he became the franchise quarterback the Giants had hoped. Simms led the Giants to their first NFL Championship in 30 years in 1986. He would set, or break, most of the Giants’ franchise passing records and played a total of 15 seasons for Big Blue. His No. 11 is retired by the Giants.

Dave Brown: 1992 Supplemental Draft, Round 1

The Giants were looking for a successor to Simms and were not sold on Jeff Hostetler as their starter. That caused Young to roll the dice in the supplemental draft to take Duke’s Dave Brown. The Giants were not the only team interested in Brown, which explains why Young forfeited a No. 1 pick to get him. It didn’t pan out, however. Brown did not impress head coach Dan Reeves enough in his first two seasons, sitting behind Simms and Hostetler. He finally got the starting job in 1994 but lasted only four years in Blue with a 23-30 record and a 69.3 QB rating before continuing his career in Arizona. Perhaps Brown’s failure is the reason why no player has been taken in the first round of the supplemental draft since.

Philip Rivers: Round 1, Pick 4, 2004

Philip Rivers never played a down for the Giants, having been traded for Eli Manning almost immediately after being drafted. He had a Hall of Fame career with the Chargers and many feel he would have had just as much success — or even more — as Eli had with the Giants had general manager Ernie Accorsi not made the deal. We’ll never know the answer to that. All we know is the trade worked out for both clubs.

Daniel Jones: Round 1, Pick 6, 2019

So much has been written about this pick, there’s not much to add. When the Giants selected Daniel Jones, I posted on social media that it was a “colossal mistake that would affect them for years.” Unfortunately, I was right. Jones’ six years with the club were a dark period. Jones’ record as a starter was 24-44-1 and 8-15-1 against the NFC East. He is now healthy again and looking for his second act as an NFL starter with Indianapolis.