In New York, where the autumn wind smells like desperation and hope, Jaxson Dart’s arrival has turned the Giants’ QB room into a high-stakes poker game. Russell Wilson, the 36-year-old Super Bowl champ with 350 career TD passes, might’ve signed a $10.5 M deal to start, but Dart’s confidence is louder than Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

“I’m a competitor, and I feel like if you don’t see yourself playing at the highest level, you shouldn’t even be between those lines in the first place especially as a QB,” Dart declared on his team’s YouTube Channel, his voice dripping with the swagger of a kid who rewrote record books at Ole Miss. The Giants’ rookie QB isn’t just here to hold a clipboard—he’s here to rattle cages.

Dart’s stats scream generational talent: 11,970 career passing yards, 81 TDs, and a 69.3 % completion rate in 2024—numbers that would make even Eli Manning nod in respect. But this ain’t the SEC anymore. The Giants’ depth chart reads like a veteran’s last stand:

Russell Wilson at QB1, Jameis Winston as backup, and Dart, the first-round phenom, buried at QB3. Yet, the kid’s unshaken. “I haven’t really sat before,” he admitted, grinning like he’s already memorized the playbook. “But if you’re losing, it sucks…I care about winning.” It’s the kind of quote that hits harder than a Lawrence Taylor blindside—a reminder that rookies with nothing to lose can rewrite the script overnight.

Additionally, the 21-year-old may not have begun his freshman season at USC as the starter, but he ended up starting six games. Yeah, and that was the last time and the only time he has served as a backup. So, with the upcoming season, only time will tell how the third-string quarterback will fare.

The rebel who refuses to rebel: Jaxson Dart’s calculated swagger and Russell Wilson’s charm

Dart’s journey feels ripped from an underdog flick. At USC, he debuted with 391 yards and 4 TDs—breaking Carson Palmer’s freshman record—before transferring to Ole Miss and shattering Archie Manning’s passing mark. Now, wearing No. 6 (‘Gotta check the pics to see if I like myself,’ he joked), he’s navigating a locker room where Wilson’s legacy looms large.

But Dart’s mindset? “So it doesn’t matter where you’re at on the depth chart, if you’re playing this much or not playing this much, if you’re losing, it sucks. So for me, I want to make the team better, and that’s my focus.”

And if anything, then the rookie quarterback is not just delivering these heavy words; he is also backing them up. He had a pretty solid first day of the rookie minicamp, where he finished 8 of 10 in two sets of 7-on-7 drills. The incompletions that happened were dropped passes.

Giants coach Brian Daboll isn’t sugarcoating the grind either. “You learn from the mistakes. You teach off of them, come back the next day, you build off of it. There’ll be some good things. There’ll be some bad things. It’s the first day of camp. He hasn’t thrown with any of these guys. He’s calling plays in our system for the first time but same as all the other positions. They have a lot to learn.” he shrugged. But Dart’s college resume—15 school records, including 12,117 total offense yards—suggests he’s built for chaos.

Meanwhile, Wilson, fresh off a 2,482-yard season in Pittsburgh, carries the weary wisdom of a QB who’s seen it all. Their dynamic? Think ‘Remember the Titans,’ ‘Attitude reflects leadership,’ with Wilson mentoring the kid gunning for his job.

Dart’s not here to wait. His NIL deals—Beats by Dre, and with Nicholas Air—prove he’s a brand in motion. But in New York, legacy isn’t bought; it’s earned. As the Giants rebuild (3–14 in 2024, ouch), Dart’s audacity might be the spark they need. Because in the NFL, rookies don’t rise by accident—they rise because they’re too naive to know they shouldn’t. And Jaxson Dart? Well, he’s got the confidence and performance to back himself.