The Giants will have to wait for the first Jaxson Dart-Jayden Daniels matchup.
This means the quarterback the Giants really wanted and could not get in 2024 and the quarterback they really wanted in 2025 and made sure they procured will have to wait before meeting on the field with their NFL teams.
Dart will be out there Sunday to face the Commanders at MetLife Stadium but Daniels has been ruled out of that game after he aggravated a left elbow injury that cost him three games earlier this season.
So, it will be Dart vs. backup Marcus Mariota, which does not have the same appeal. On the subject of appeal, this game features the Giants at 2-11 and the Commanders at 3-10, with both sides riding long losing streaks — seven consecutive games for the Giants, eight for the Commanders.
For Dart vs. Daniels, tune in in 2026.
“He’s a great dude, a great player and it’s gonna be fun to compete against him again,’’ Dart said Wednesday after practice. “We’re going to be playing against each other a lot the next coming years so, just fun to have that competition.’’
Dart and Daniels squared off three times in college. Daniels and Arizona State beat Dart and USC 31-16 in 2021.
Daniels and LSU beat Dart and Ole Miss 40-25 during the 2022 season and the two put on a clinic in 2023, with Dart and Ole Miss winning 55-49.
Dart and Daniels both threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions and both ran for a touchdown in that shootout.
The Giants wanted to trade up to No. 2 in the 2024 draft to get Daniels but the Commanders were never going to make a deal. The Giants tried to move up from No. 6 to No. 3 to get Drake Maye but the Patriots were not interested.
The Giants got shut out in that quarterback cycle and selected wide receiver Malik Nabers.
One draft later, they traded back up into the first round to land Dart at No. 25 overall.
Dart and Daniels have known each other for years. Since high school, they have worked with the same quarterbacks coach, John Beck. In 2021, they were together in the Pac-12 Conference and then they met up in the SEC.
“I mean, on the football field we’re always competing but we have a really good relationship off the field,’’ Dart said. “He has a great family, so it’s been fun to kinda have our journeys cross paths along the way.’’
Dart returns to finish up a season of dramatic highs and unforeseen lows. He won two of his first three starts and has not won since. He returns to a passer rating of 94.1, a completion percentage of 63.6, 11 touchdown passes, three interceptions, 23 sacks and a 2-6 record in his eight starts.
Dart returns to face the Commanders, Vikings, Raiders and Cowboys, with Week 17 in Las Vegas the only remaining road game.
Dart returns after the Patriots in their 33-15 Monday Night Football victory seemed to go out of their way to try to teach him a lesson by smacking him around every chance they could, especially when Dart was tiptoeing the sideline instead of running out of bounds.
The first bye week in Dart’s NFL journey has now come and gone.
“Yeah, he seemed refreshed, energized,’’ interim head coach Mike Kafka said. “He looked good, excited and ready to go. I had a couple conversations with him over the bye, and I think everyone’s excited.’’
Dart did not get away from football in his first bye week. He said he reviewed every snap he has taken with the Giants, self-scouting to see what went right, what went wrong and where he can improve.
“You just have conversations with the coaching staff, we’re able to have that extra time to watch all the games back, all the reps back and try to find those things where maybe you’re making a few of, like similar mistakes,’’ Dart said. “Maybe there’s past concepts that you need to improve at, making sure your mechanics are in the right spots so you have a little extra time to not really worry about game planning and take the time on the field to walk through your mechanics based on different actions or whatever it may be. I felt like it was beneficial.’’
Dart is extremely self-aware and he did not shy away from praising what he believes he has done well.
“I felt like my decision-making has been pretty good,’’ he said. “Not putting the ball in harm’s way and situationally felt like I didn’t really try to force things too much, I tried to kinda let the game come to me. I was happy with that. I was happy with our offense — don’t feel like we took a ton of negative plays. Those were good things. Obviously the Patriots game was a tough one, but I felt, as an offense, we’ve been able to be pretty explosive and do some good stuff.’’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
