Giants’ Future Is Jaxson Dart, Yet His Team Keeps Holding Him Back

The New York Giants again showed the strain of a season slipping away. Late in the first half of a 34-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, linebacker Brian Burns delivered a sack and forced fumble that rookie Abdul Carter plucked from the air, which should have led to points. Instead, Graham Gano missed a 45-yard field goal wide left. Burns looked up, then collapsed onto the bench, described as if he “crumbled in a heap.” He was not physically hurt, but the reaction captured the emotional fatigue of a team stuck in repeated frustration.

The defeat dropped the Giants to 2-7 for the third straight season and extended a three-game losing streak following a Week 6 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Christian McCaffrey totaled 173 yards — 106 rushing and 67 receiving, and scored twice. With Brock Purdy out due to a toe injury, Mac Jones started for San Francisco and finished with 235 passing yards and two touchdowns while managing the offense steadily.

Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart remains New York’s clearest sign of progress. Dart replaced Russell Wilson in Week 4 and has delivered the Giants’ most competent quarterback play in years. Against San Francisco, he completed 24-of-33 passes for 191 yards, threw two touchdowns, rushed for another, and ran for 56 yards. Daniel Jones once showed promise during a playoff run three years ago, but that postseason victory in Minnesota was his peak. The Giants now view Dart as their long-term answer.

Inside the locker room, a teammate pointed to Dart and said, “That kid is the franchise. We need to follow his lead.” After the loss, Dart said, “I’m just going to continue to do my job of encouraging everybody around me and try to hold a standard to myself each and every day. And hopefully I can try to raise the bar for everybody else.” He added, “The biggest thing is we’ve got to not let things collapse. We have to have the intensity and focus as a whole team to weather the adversity storms and just keep the belief that we’re gonna win.”

Head coach Brian Daboll echoed that leadership theme. “Jaxson is the leader of our football team,” Daboll said. “I know he’s a rookie, and that’s a hard thing to do as a rookie. And the way he competes, you know, people need to feed off of that.”

Unfortunately, Dart’s development has been hampered by injuries to key players. Malik Nabers, described as “the alpha playmaker,” underwent ACL surgery this past week after playing only two quarters with Dart. He is expected back, preparing for the 2026 season. Running back Cam Skattebo suffered an ankle dislocation and had immediate surgery that ended his rookie season. Both absences leave Dart operating without primary weapons.

After the game, Wilson and Jameis Winston spoke with Dart, while Dexter Lawrence and Wan’Dale Robinson stopped by to offer support. Dart, staying focused on the task at hand, said, “I can only control what I can control. I want to live in the moment and take advantage of the opportunities I have.”

Daboll has spent a lot of time stressing how important strong quarterback play is, and now he is under pressure because the team isn’t winning, even though the Giants finally appear to have their quarterback in Jaxson Dart. After the loss, Daboll said, “We’re not where we need to be.” He led the Giants to the playoffs in 2022 and earned Coach of the Year honors, but with the team off to another tough 2-7 start, more people are openly questioning him and general manager Joe Schoen and whether this regime can build the right roster around its young quarterback.

Betting markets have responded both to team struggles and Dart’s rise. For the 49ers game, odds placed San Francisco at −2.5 with the Giants around +130 on the moneyline and a total near 48.5 points. McCaffrey’s prop line sat near 131.5 total yards, and he cleared it. Dart’s Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have tightened from roughly +650 earlier in the year to near even money (+100). Giants Super Bowl odds remain long as the roster lags behind its quarterback.

The Giants now travel to Chicago, where Dart will seek his first road win. The final message from the rookie matched the urgency around him, “As a team, we should be thinking that same way. We have a chance to win every game that we have on our schedule. That’s how I feel.”