The pages in the book on New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart are beginning to get filled in as he reaches his second season. Opponents have enough tape now to build a strategy to defend against him going forward.
As the 2026 season nears, we should hear more from opponents about Dart. He has become the focal point of this Giants team, even with a new coaching staff led by head coach John Harbaugh, who is embarking on a new era.
In a recent interview with New York Daily News Giants beat reporter Pat Leonard, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean spoke about Dart and the challenges teams now face when playing the Giants.
Super Bowl champion Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean @NakobeDean, an impressive young man headed to free agency, with an excellent breakdown of QB Jaxson Dart (“He don’t care. He got the keys”) and the Giants (“They did give us Saquon. But…”) on #TalkinBall from Radio Row! @YouTube… pic.twitter.com/FmEL3blWEp
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) February 11, 2026
Dean, a former third-round draft pick back in 2022 by the Eagles out of Georgia, is an impending free agent who is said to be a match for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That's funny, because in his analysis of Dart, he compares him to Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.
"I see a greedy player," Dean said of Dart when Leonard asked him last week at the Super Bowl about his impression of the Giants' 2025 first-round pick. "I always say, if I play quarterback, I'd play like Baker Mayfield because Baker Mayfield is a hard-nose. He just don't give a (expletive) about none of that.
"I see that kind of mentality in Jaxson Dart. In the sense that he don't care. He don't care about what nobody else got to say. He gonna play the game the way he need to play it. But he going to continue to learn continue to get better and use pieces."
Dean believes the Giants now have the pieces to succeed, which will come on the shoulders of Dart.
"At the end of the day, he at the crossroads now where it's like he's got the keys, the organization, the city. They trust him. He got the keys to do it," Dean said. "Now it's time to put in the work this offseason. Get better. You'll probably have your running back who everybody like? You have (Cam Skattebo) back. I'm pretty sure they got a new coach (Harbaugh), but I do think they are going to put the pieces in place to succeed."
"Now it's time for him to go to work," concluded Dean.
Solid praise from a hated divisional rival.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Eagles' Nakobe Dean likens Giants QB Jaxson Dart to Baker Mayfield