Even though he had a sensational rookie season, Jaxson Dart always had an outside chance at being named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year. It was a pretty strong rookie class with several viable candidates, but in the end, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was the winner of the award.
Dart was a finalist, which was pretty impressive all things considered, but I expected him to have more of a campaign for the award. The 22-year-old finished in fourth place and received just one first-place vote despite totaling a stellar 24 touchdowns in just 14 starts for Big Blue in 2025.
McMillan finishing ahead of him makes sense, and the debate between him and Tyler Shough feels like a toss-up, but where they really lost me was with the third-place finisher. Seattle Seahawks offensive guard Grey Zabel received one more first-place vote than Dart, which is genuine insanity.
Jaxson Dart finishing fourth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting does not sit right with Giants fans
Let's put things into perspective. Yes, Zabel's Seahawks are playing for the Super Bowl, but offensive linemen receiving OROY votes is practically unheard of. He's played a big role in turning around the Seattle offensive line, but are we forgetting what the most important position on the football field is?
The Seahawks had a strong run game before they drafted the North Dakota State product, but their OL straight-up sucked. What I noticed through watching the NFL Honors ceremony is that voters put a lot of stock into postseason or team success, which isn't an argument I really understand for OROY.
If it took a record-breaking season from Myles Garrett for him to win the Defensive Player of the Year, Dart was never gonna have a shot. Players are too often penalized for a lack of team success in awards races, but Giants fans are well aware the offense completely fell apart while he was injured.
The Ole Miss product put himself into many of those dangerous situations, but he only missed three games. He doesn't deserve to be severely penalized for that when he looked like the OROY favorite beforehand-- and he had to deal with the ripple effect of Brian Daboll getting fired mid-season.
In all honesty, even Shough receiving more votes doesn't sit right with me. He was great down the stretch for the Saints, but didn't start as many games and was not as impressive. If Dart had Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo all season, there's a real chance we're discussing him as the OPOY winner.
Dart wouldn't have been my vote, T-Mac would've, but I expected more of a fight. Hopefully, he uses this as motivation to take a leap in Year 2 with a new offensive staff.