​There’s a wave of optimism surrounding the New York Giants this season, much of it because many believe they’ve found their franchise quarterback in Jaxson Dart. The Giants have a storied history of great quarterbacks who led them to championships and smashed NFL records along the way. If Dart can spark a breakout season, he could begin carving his own place in Giants lore. So what can he do to join the pantheon of the team’s legendary quarterbacks? Here are five single-season franchise marks that Dart could target in 2026.
The benchmark set by Eli Manning remains a closely watched standard. In 2011, as the Giants rode to their second Super Bowl victory in five seasons, Manning threw 29 touchdowns against 16 interceptions and completed 61.0 percent of his passes. He started all 16 games that year and earned a quarterback rating of 92.9. For Dart to leave his imprint in Giants history, he would need to approach or exceed these kinds of numbers, delivering clutch performances throughout a full season.
Another ceiling that has long stood as an NFL-wide goal, originally set by Y.A. Tittle back in 1963, is the 40-touchdown mark. Tittle’s record stood for two decades until Dan Marino finally surpassed it in 1984 with 48 touchdown passes. Since then, the standard has been broken many times across the league, but no Giant had reached that milestone—until now. The closest a Giants quarterback has come to that exalted total was Manning’s 35 touchdown passes in 2015. For Dart, pairing a high-volume passing attack with precise efficiency could put him in the running for elite-tier single-season numbers that would etch his name into the Giants’ record books.
On the ground, the Giants have to consider how Dart’s rushing ability could shape his season-long impact. As a rookie in 2023, Dart racked up 487 rushing yards on 86 attempts, averaging an impressive 5.7 yards per carry across 12 starts. The team record for rushing by a quarterback was set by Daniel Jones in 2022 with 708 yards on 120 attempts (an average of 5.9 yards per carry) over 16 games. If the Giants unleash Dart to run with the frequency he did as a rookie and maintain good durability, he could push himself toward that team rushing record. Much will depend on how many designed runs the coaching staff calls this year and whether Dart’s health is prioritized to sustain a heavy rushing workload.
Another metric that could swing in Dart’s favor is completion percentage. Jones owns the Giants’ single-season mark for completion rate, finishing at 67.2 percent on 472 attempts, with an average of 6.8 yards per pass. Dart, as a rookie, completed 63.7 percent of his passes on 339 attempts, averaging 6.7 yards per attempt. The Giants have been working to improve Dart’s accuracy this offseason, and with better weapons and a more diverse route tree around him, there’s a real possibility of a notable uptick in his completion percentage and efficiency in 2026.
Beyond stats, the surrounding pieces matter. Improvements in pass protection, a more dynamic receiving corps, and a creative play-calling approach could all boost Dart’s efficiency and scoring potential. If the Giants provide him with a robust supporting cast and a schedule that allows him to grow into the offense, he could transform some of this potential into measurable, franchise-defining numbers. The coming season will reveal how quickly Dart can elevate his game and how high the ceiling really is for him as a Giants quarterback.
For now, the hype centers on Dart’s ability to translate his athleticism into sustained success through all facets of the game: accurate throws, decisive reads, and the discipline to maximize every drive. If he can deliver a season that leans into his strengths while scaling up his efficiency, he will have done more than just compete—he’ll have positioned himself as a legitimate challenger for the Giants’ most enduring quarterback legacies. The 2026 campaign could be the year Jaxson Dart begins to write his own chapter in Giants lore.