In the past year, the New York Giants have gone through a massive change at the quarterback position. Towards the end of last season, they opted to cut ties with Daniel Jones. Then, in the offseason, the front office secured short and long-term options at the position.
During night one of the NFL Draft, the Giants executed a trade to sneak into the end of the first round. With the selection, they took quarterback Jaxson Dart. The four-year college prospect was fresh off a senior season at Ole Miss where he notched 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns (both career highs).
Now with the Giants, Dart finds himself taking on an old-school development path in the NFL. Instead of being thrown right in the fire, he'll have year one to learn behind the scenes. New York found a suitable mentor for the young prospect, inking Russell Wilson to a one-year deal in free agency.
Though it might be some time before he's under center for the Giants, Dart seems to have made a strong first impression with the team. Towards the end of mandatory minicamp, head coach Brian Daboll raved about what he saw from the rookie QB.
"He's done excellent picking up information," Daboll told reporters. "It's really good to have Russ and Jameis and even Tommy because Tommy has been in this system for a few years here. Kind of the head statesman in terms of that with all the adjustments that take place and the calls. He's fit right in with those guys. He's smart, aggressive with the football, which I like. And then the true test will be once we start with live hitting and preseason games and things like that. He's progressed since he's been here. ... He's made improvement."
Daboll is not the only one who has sung Dart's praises, as quarterback coach Shea Tierney also applauded his efforts on the field.
"It's been impressive to see the last couple weeks just how he's prepared and made the transition to becoming a pro," Tierney said. "We thought that about him, which is one of the reasons why we liked him. But he's done a really good job of coming in here and understanding what he's got to do to make himself a pro and approaching it the right way."
Based on how the coaching staff has talked about him thus far, Dart could be competing for a starting spot sooner rather than later.
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