‘It’ll be a process’ – Giants HC Brian Daboll says new draft pick Jaxson Dart has ‘a lot to learn’ before starting

NEW York Giants head coach Brian Daboll revealed that first-round pick Jaxson Dart has to master plenty in order to start for his team.

The Giants traded up from their No. 34 selection to grab the Ole Miss product, Dart, with their first-round pick in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week.

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The 21-year-old Dart won’t be asked to step in as the Giants’ starting quarterback come Week 1, and it’s understandable why.

Veteran Russell Wilson leads the Giants’ quarterback room, with Jameis Winston behind him.

The Giants will be patient with the No. 25 pick, Dart, who Daboll believes has abilities that stood out to the franchise, but will also have his work cut out to start for the team.

“[Dart] did a really good job throughout this process of our meetings, board work, workouts, and the tape that we liked,” Daboll told reporters on Tuesday.

“He’s got a lot to learn. It’ll be a process here with him.

“But he’s a guy we look forward to working with.”

While Dart won’t be rushed to start, he also can’t sit back and be too comfortable, as Daboll’s processes for his rookie quarterback, or any signal-caller for that matter, won’t be easy.

That means Dart could wake up and not get a rep during a training camp practice, but then be thrown out to play with the starters another day.

“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,” Daboll said.

“He won’t know when or why.”

This isn’t Daboll’s first rodeo of nurturing a first-round rookie quarterback.

In 2018, Daboll and Giants general manager Joe Schoen were together with the Buffalo Bills and helped land star Josh Allen.

The then-Bills offensive coordinator Daboll oversaw Allen, who started 12 games in his up-and-down rookie season.

But the original idea was to have Allen sit in his rookie year, but the Bills found out rather quickly that Nathan Peterman wasn’t the answer.

Luckily for Allen and the Bills, he would break out two seasons later and become the MVP quarterback he is today.

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Daboll noted this situation is “a little bit unique” since Wilson and Winston are also new to the team and need plenty of reps to get used to the offense.

The four-year NFL head coach shared that he, along with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, will look after Dart’s body of work.

There will also be after-practice sessions for Dart to get more reps.

“That will be an important plan for Jax,” Daboll said. “I look forward to executing that plan with him.

“There is no rush, but also no time to waste.”

The Giants will also hope to rebound from their dreadful 3-14 campaign in 2024.