Jaxson Dart’s rookie season sparked a lot of excitement for New York Giants fans, who have yearned for a potential franchise quarterback since the days of Eli Manning.
The 25th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft capped off an exciting first season as one of the favorites to win Rookie of the Year, completing 63.7% of his passes for 2,272 passing yards and 24 total touchdowns.
Dart now heads into year two of his NFL career, and hopes to improve as he develops into the franchise quarterback that Giants fans hope he can be.
Along the way, he’ll have the help of Manning, the last quarterback to experience prolonged success with Big Blue.
What Kind of Advice Has Eli Manning Given Jaxson Dart?
As Dart looks to continue to ascend as quarterback of the New York Giants, Manning has been with him almost every step of the way, advising on how to block out the noise of the Big Apple and focus on football.
“I think the best piece of advice that Eli has given me is just being cool, calm, collected in any given moment. We go back and look at the biggest moments in his career, the way that he ran out on the field, the way that he presented himself to the team, how he was with the guys in the huddle,” Dart told RG’s DJ Siddiqi in an exclusive interview.
“It’s very similar to tennis, every play is very independent of its own, and anything can happen on any given moment in the play, especially in the NFL. You just gotta make sure that you’re as dialed and consistent as you can be and not really ride the emotions of the game. You have to be able to weather the storms and just stay cool, calm and collected.”
It’s sound advice from Manning, a two-time Super Bowl MVP who is best-known for giving his best performances in the biggest moments.
If anyone knows anything about staying calm, cool, and collected, it’s him, and hopefully Dart can take a few pages from Manning’s book.
Where Does Jaxson Dart Want to Improve the Most in His Game?
When asked by Siddiqi where he wants to improve most heading into his second season as quarterback of the New York Giants, Dart said he wants to improve his processing, allowing him to slow the game down when he’s in the pocket.
“I think the biggest thing for me is just continuing to go through defenses, studying as much as I can to just find tendencies, just little tendencies. Where I can be quicker with my eyes and just speed up the process in my head and throughout the progressions from different looks, because there’s a lot of movement at times,” Dart continued.
“When you want to be really sound with your mechanics, you also have to be great with your eyes and have a great understanding of the movements and the spaces that are open against the defense. I think that that really starts with me, and I’m really excited to get back into this offseason program and be ready for it.”
Dart will have to pick up a new offense this offseason, going from Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka’s system to new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Nagy loves RPOs and ran them all the time with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, and with Dart’s athletic ability, he figures to take full advantage of it when installing the Giants’ new offense in 2026.
Jaxson Dart Reveals How Important Eli Manning Has Been to His Development