When the New York Giants traded back into the first round to select Jaxson Dart with the 25th pick in the 2025 draft, not everyone bought the hype.
Dart's elite college production, arm strength, and work ethic weren't enough to dissuade pundits and analysts alike from slithering out from the woodwork to label the 22-year-old as a project and deem him unworthy of a first-round pick. Three electric preseason games later, and those opinions have all but faded... but not everyone is on board.
EA Sports' Madden video game is the go-to for NFL-related gaming. It's the one. It's the only. It's the GOAT. However, Madden 26 is on one. It's inherently difficult to assign rookies an appropriate overall, seeing as though they haven't played an NFL snap yet, but Dart's Madden rating borders on cruel and unusual punishment, and one he's already proven to be laughable.
Jaxson Dart receives weirdest Madden rating
Listen, not everyone is going to believe in Dart. But to slap him with a 68-overall rating (the only below-70 of the first-round class) is weird. Either one of the developers is a Mississippi State fan, or an entire division missed the mark.
What makes the selection so strange is who Dart's behind and who he's tied with. For example, undrafted free agent receiver Xavier Restrepo (Miami) comes in at a 69 overall. He went undrafted. How in the world is he better than the rookie signal caller?
What makes it worse is that Big Blue's seventh-round selection, Korie Black, is also ranked 68 overall. Are we missing something here? He likely won't even make the roster. No offense to Black, but he's a two-time All-Big 12 honorable mention member who had 25 passes defensed and four interceptions in 62 games. That feels worthy of a 68.
And to pile on, Tre Harris — Los Angeles Chargers WR and former Jaxson Dart teammate — is listed as a 72 overall. But I digress. I could go through everyone who doesn't deserve to be ahead of the future franchise QB, but it's more about his abysmal rating.
Dart finished college with 852 completions, 11,970 passing yards, 81 touchdowns, and a 158.4 quarterback rating. Call him a developmental project all you want, but the math just isn't mathing.
Furthermore, it took Dart all of one preseason to put his 68-overall rating to shame with the best quarterback performance of the whole thing. It essentially just served as an extension of his amazing college career, going 32-of-47 for 372 yards and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).
I don't know who needs to know, but this guy is surely better than a seventh-round cornerback and an undrafted WR who caught three passes for 26 yards. Chalk it up to another low-hanging fruit assault from a place that just doesn't want to see the Giants succeed. Overall, it's weird vibes being sent Jaxson Dart's way. Time to prove 'em wrong.