The New York Giants brass, including general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, were in Buffalo when the Bills selected and charted a course of development for quarterback Josh Allen that has worked out pretty well.
Now that the two men have selected a quarterback for the Giants in Jaxson Dart, they hope the plan they deployed after Allen joined the franchise will yield similar results for Dart.
"Jaxson will get a fair amount of reps with the threes, and maybe you'll see him in there, sprinkle him in when he doesn't even know he's supposed to go in there, just to see how he reacts being in a different atmosphere. He won't know when or why,” Schoen told reporters after the 2025 NFL draft concluded.
Although Daboll, then the offensive coordinator in Buffalo, had veterans Nathan Peterman, Matt Barkle, and Derek Anderson on the roster, none of them brought the pedigree that the Giants’ current two veterans, Russell Wilson, a Super Bowl champion, and Jameis Winston, a former first-round draft pick, bring.
That pedigree was chosen, in part, to ensure that Dart has the very best possible resources to learn from. Wilson is a maven for detail, and Winston is a former top draft pick who can impart wisdom on ensuring Dart doesn’t see his ascent to an NFL starter go astray.
With both Wilson and Wisnton being new to the organization, the initial plan is for both to learn the team’s offensive system so that they can run it. Schoen noted that once all the quarterbacks—don’t forget Tommy DeVito, who has the most experience in the Giants system–arrive on campus, they’re all pretty much going to be in the same boat.
That’s where quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka–the latter of whom went through the development process in Kansas City when the Chiefs acquired Patrick Mahomes–come into play.
Tierney and Kafka will oversee the bulk of Dart’s development, just as they will serve as a sounding board for Wilson and Wisnton as they continue tightening their grasp on the Giants’ playbook.
“They have good chemistry in there right now with Shea and Kaf when they're talking about things, and they give their input from the experiences that they've had, and Tommy gives input, and it's been good,” Schoen said of the learning process.
“We'll add Jax to the mix, and we'll have a plan to work with him every day."
While the offseason will allow the time necessary to ensure Dart gets his share of the practice reps, once the regular season begins, time becomes even more valuable, where the focus shifts more toward preparing for the upcoming opponent.
When that happens, Daboll admitted that the plan for Dart will likely have to change, though it’s not expected that the rookie will take a back seat to Wilson, who is expected to get the bulk of the practice reps, and Winston, who will get his share as QB2.
“Yeah, we'll talk about that when the time comes,” Daboll said when asked how the plan for Dart’s development would shift once the regular season comes along.
“We'll focus on Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III (of the offseason program) and then training camp. There's some time for that, but we'll have a plan. We'll have a plan for him and all the young guys coming in. But that will be an important plan for Jax. I look forward to executing that plan with him.”
