{"id":819361,"date":"2026-03-18T15:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/819361\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:42:18","slug":"did-brian-daboll-save-giants-from-a-massive-shedeur-sanders-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/819361\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Brian Daboll save Giants from a massive Shedeur Sanders mistake?"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 18, 2026, 10:00 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

Jaxson Dart is the starting quarterback and the future for the New York Giants<\/a> heading into the 2026 NFL season, but it may have turned out differently had the former head coach Brian Daboll not spoken up.<\/p>\n

The Giants, led by general manager Joe Schoen, were smitten with Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, whom they had courted heavily in the predraft process. Daboll was not sold, however, after a lackluster top 30 visit in which Sanders reportedly came unprepared.<\/p>\n

Daboll preferred Ole Miss’ Dart and lobbied hard to make him a Giant, which Schoen did via a draft day trade.<\/p>\n

Schoen and assistant general manager Brandon Brown liked what they saw in Sanders. He had the swagger and the position to handle New York and would be a great fit here. Daboll felt otherwise.<\/p>\n

The Giants traded back into the first round to snare Dart with the 25th overall pick. Sanders lasted until the fifth round.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Schoen said in December, after Daboll was dismissed as head coach, that the decision to draft Dart was an organizational one. He wasn’t about to let Daboll have one of the few wins that could save his own job.<\/p>\n

“Again, there’s context to those. Again, there’s hundreds of conversations leading up to that conversation in the draft room starting when we met with Jaxson at the Senior Bowl. So, you could probably ask (sports agent) Jim Denton,” he said at the time. “It was the earliest 30 visit I’ve ever scheduled; it was in January when he was already on our calendar. So Jaxson was a guy that was on our radar very early in the scouting process before Dabs was even aware of him because he was coaching and anytime you’re going to make a decision on a first-round quarterback, that’s going to be an organizational decision and it was an organizational decision.<\/p>\n

“Credit to my staff, they did a phenomenal job gathering information. Understanding the landscape of the draft that we could get Abdul at three and then when’s the re-entry point into the first round where we could still get a quarterback and again kudos to my staff, (assistant general manager) Brandon Brown, (Director of Player Personnel)Tim McDonnell, (Assistant Director of Player Personnel) Dennis Hickey, all those guys, the research they did was spot on and if you’re going to make the decision to move back up into the first round to get a quarterback, all hands are on deck.<\/p>\n

“That was an organizational decision. We were all on board with it. I’m glad we were able to do it. We didn’t have to sell the farm to go up and get the quarterback. We were able to get him where we were and again, it looks like that pick is going to pay off.”<\/p>\n

Dart is poised to become one of the game’s brightest young stars. Sanders could get there as well. He is in the mix for the Cleveland Browns’ starting job under new head coach Todd Monken.<\/p>\n

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