Eli Manning Talks Jaxson Dart, Daniel Jones, Giants and Hall of Fame in B/R Interview

The 2025 season has largely been one to forget for the New York Giants, but there is one clear reason for optimism.

They once again have a first-round quarterback from Ole Miss leading the way as the franchise cornerstone.

Jaxson Dart seemed destined to join the Giants when he called Eli Manning "a huge role model" before the 2025 NFL draft, and the NFC East team ended up taking him with the No. 25 overall pick. And now the rookie is the starting quarterback and impressing the man whose Ole Miss all-time passing record he broke in college.

"He's not making many bad decisions," Manning told Bleacher Report when discussing Dart. "He's not making a ton of mistakes, and he does a great job of extending plays and making big plays with scrambles. Those are great, and he has that ability. Now it's fine-tuning and getting the ball out on time a few more times. Or understanding all the different reads or progressions. 

"And that's just part of being a young quarterback, it's going to come with time. Being able to play faster in those moments and when things aren't there, having the ability to create things. Just having that combination as he becomes more familiar with the offense and the defenses coming after him is going to be exciting."

While Dart has a ways to go to replicate Manning's career on the Giants, he has completed 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,175 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions to go with 251 yards and five scores on the ground this season.

His potential is on full display almost every week, and it didn't take him long to take over the starting job even though New York added veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston during the offseason.

The Giants turned to Dart after Wilson started 0-3, and the rookie immediately won two of his first three starts. It seemed like the team was turning the corner with rookie running back Cam Skattebo also quickly becoming a fan favorite, especially when he ran for three touchdowns in a victory over the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles.

However, that optimism surrounding the young backfield took quite the hit when Skattebo suffered a significant leg and ankle injury in the rematch against the Eagles. It left an offense that already lost star receiver Malik Nabers for the season to a torn ACL with one fewer weapon, and the Giants have now lost three in a row.

One of those losses was a collapse against the Denver Broncos where they gave up 33 points in the fourth quarter, and things might get worse for the 2-7 team in the immediate future with the next four contests against teams with winning records.

▶️ Full Giants-Broncos Recap

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But Manning is taking a glass half-full approach when assessing his former team.

"They've solved the quarterback situation," he said. "Jaxson Dart is playing well, he's making plays. Since he's been the starter, you go in and beat the Eagles and beat the Chargers and you have Denver basically beat. That was a tough one, and the latest one with Philadelphia, you knew they were going to come out fired up after beating them a couple weeks ago. The injury to Skattebo hurts everybody, you never like to see anybody get injured. 

"But the excitement and energy with Dart and Skattebo, what it brought to the fanbase and the team, you can tell everyone was enjoying it and benefiting from it. It's a long season, it's just valuable time for a rookie quarterback getting all these reps because every game is an opportunity for him to learn something new. I'm excited to see how it progresses the rest of the season."

Dart is not the only quarterback Manning is connected to who is making quite the impression this season.

He was still on the Giants when they selected Daniel Jones as his eventual replacement with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NFL draft. While Jones didn't live up to expectations with New York as he went 24-44-1 as a starter, he has been a revelation with the Indianapolis Colts this season.

Indianapolis is 7-2 and tied for the best record in the AFC with the New England Patriots and Broncos in large part because Jones has completed 69.6 percent of his passes for a league-best 2,404 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions to go with five rushing touchdowns.

"Daniel Jones and what's happening in Indianapolis has been exciting," Manning, who has followed this season closely through his Manningcast broadcasts on ESPN, said when asked what non-Giants storyline has stood out this year. "He's a former teammate of mine, drafted to the Giants when I was still there. I probably shouldn't like Daniel because he stole my job. 

"But I saw from day one, his commitment to be the best quarterback, best person and best teammate he could possibly be. We saw it every single day. His teammates always respected him, he always worked extremely hard, he always tried to do the right things. His number one focus was always doing whatever possible to help the team win games. And now they're doing that very well in Indianapolis, and he's playing extremely well. So I'm happy for him."

There was only one year of overlap in New York, but Jones was still there for the end of Manning's legendary career.

It was a career that made him an icon among Giants fans and included two Super Bowl titles and two Super Bowl MVP awards. He is also still 11th on the NFL's all-time list for passing yards (57,023) and passing touchdowns (366).

Those Super Bowl titles are the biggest argument in his favor when it comes to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, especially since they both came against Tom Brady and the dominant Patriots.

Manning was one of the 15 modern-era player finalists announced in December 2024 but fell just short of being inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Making it that far right away was a promising sign he will eventually be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, and he is once again a candidate this year as one of the 52 modern-era players to advance in the voting process.

Fellow quarterbacks Philip Rivers and Drew Brees also advanced that far, which was fitting since they are two of Manning's contemporaries who he will always be connected to from their playing days.

"Those two guys are very deserving," Manning said. "We're all linked together somehow, going back to 2004 with that draft and Philip and I being traded from San Diego to New York. And with Brees being the quarterback there at one point and then going to New Orleans where I grew up. Had a lot of great games against those guys. Both of them are tremendous people and outstanding football players. I'm just honored to be in that process with those guys. You can't make a bad decision."

Manning was involved in another decision before the Hall of Fame one as part of his partnership to promote the New York Times Family Subscribers program that gives four different users access to the New York Times.

As part of the campaign, Manning was asked to decide who from his family made the cut for his shared subscription plan with his father Archie, his mother Olivia and his brother Cooper all making their cases before a surprise twist ending.

"I had a lot of fun keeping up with my brother, Cooper, and my parents to celebrate this new family subscription," Manning said. "The idea of sharing the New York Times with your family and friends makes a lot of sense and customizing it to whatever everyone's interests might be. With our family, my mom is big into the crossword and the games, my dad is into The Athletic and the sports coverage. With the commercial we did having Coop with the Thanksgiving cooking recipes, which probably is not his area of expertise, we had fun with it.

"Anytime you can shoot anything with your family is always a lot of fun. We don't get to spend a whole lot of time with each other, everybody's living all over the place. … To get us all together for a day, it allowed us to improvise a lot. Especially with Coop, you never know what he's going to say. You just try to keep a straight face, but we had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun."

One member of his family who wasn't part of the campaign but who has been under the spotlight this year is his nephew, Arch Manning.

The No. 1 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2023, per 247Sports' composite rankings, took over as Texas' starting quarterback this season following Quinn Ewers' departure to the NFL.

Given his family and status as the face of a high-profile program, perhaps no college football player generated more attention entering the 2025 season. And things did not start off in ideal fashion for Manning considering the Longhorns managed just seven points in their season-opening loss to Ohio State before also losing to Florida in their next matchup against a Power Four conference opponent.

Despite the scrutiny, Texas has bounced back with four straight wins, two of which came against arch-rival Oklahoma and a Vanderbilt team that was ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game.

Manning also threw for a combined 674 yards, six touchdowns and one interception in the last two wins over Mississippi State and the Commodores and helped lead the Longhorns to the No. 11 spot in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

Texas Longhorns - Mississippi State Bulldogs Highlights

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"It makes watching college football more nerve-wracking than it used to be," Eli Manning said of watching his nephew. "I'd always watch Ole Miss and want them to win, but I wasn't biting my fingernails and pacing. But now I'm pacing, I'm getting mad and yelling at the TV. It reminds me of back when I would watch Peyton's games. You want it for him so bad, you want his teammates to make plays, you want him to make plays. 

"This is his first time getting extensive playing time in college football. There's going to be some good times, there's going to be great plays and bad plays. It's about learning from it and getting better and taking everything in. I think he's done a great job of handling this. Handling the attention, handling a slow start, but rallying and getting back to work and getting back to the fundamentals. So I'm excited and happy for him and just enjoying the journey."

If that journey takes him to NFL stardom down the line, it will be a familiar place for the Manning family.