The Saints were heavily connected to quarterback Jaxson Dart in the run-up to this year’s draft, as the club hosted the Ole Miss product on a “30” visit and did extensive work on him. But New Orleans, which held the No. 9 overall pick, did not consider any quarterback in this year’s class outside of Cam Ward worthy of that selection, and the groundwork the team laid for a potential trade-up into the latter stages of the first round or the early portion of the second round did not produce a deal.
Instead, the Giants selected Dart with the No. 25 overall pick, which they obtained by trading back into the first round after using their No. 3 overall selection on EDGE Abdul Carter. New York head coach Brian Daboll grew fonder of Dart as the draft process went on, and Dart put together a promising training camp and preseason slate. Making his regular season debut in Week 4, he flashed in helping the Giants secure an upset win over the Chargers, Big Blue’s first victory of the campaign.
The Saints ultimately used their No. 40 choice on Louisville passer Tyler Shough, who recently turned 26 but who saw his draft stock rise in the late winter and early spring despite his age. However, New Orleans elected to open the season with 2024 fifth-rounder Spencer Rattler as its QB1, and while Rattler’s surface-level statistics are not terrible, the team has struggled to an 0-4 record.
In making his second career start in Week 5, Dart will have a chance to show the Saints what they missed, as New Orleans will host Dart’s Giants. He appears to be looking forward to that opportunity.
Given the pre-draft work the Saints did on Dart, the signal-caller believed he had a good chance to hear his name called when New Orleans was on the clock with the No. 9 selection (via Dan Duggan of The Athletic). Dart acknowledged that being passed over put a chip on his shoulder.
Of course, it is much too soon to tell what will become of Dart’s and Shough’s careers. It could be that the Saints’ new coaching staff is simply allowing its rookie passer – who has just two pass attempts thus far, both of which came towards the tail end of a blowout loss in Week 3 – to slowly acclimate to the professional level in an obvious transitional year, while Daboll’s shaky job security may have been at least partially responsible for his decision to insert Dart into the starting lineup.
Even so, a strong Dart performance and a Giants win will not do much to assuage any angst in New Orleans.