ORLANDO, Fla. — Jaxson Dart and Arch Manning both have lofty expectations for their future careers, with Dart being the second quarterback taken in the 2025 NFL Draft and Manning carrying the legacy of the most famous quarterback family in history into his first season as the full-time starter at Texas.
Eli Manning has a connection to both as Arch’s uncle and Dart as Ole Miss alums drafted by the New York Giants. Manning has plenty of experience to share with both young QBs, knowing exactly what it feels like to be the youngest Manning trying to live up to the name and having navigated the journey from Oxford, Mississippi to the Meadowlands, with the hopes of the Giants franchise placed on his shoulders.
Manning spoke to media on Friday at EA Studios in Orlando for a Madden 26 launch event and offered his thoughts on both Dart and Arch as they get set to take big steps forward in their careers. With Dart, Manning is encouraged by a consistent theme of growth throughout his career, and says all indications from his visits to Giants camp is that the 25th overall pick is going about things the right way at Giants camp.
“I’ve been to some practices, and I’ve known Jaxson for the last three years, since he’s been at Ole Miss and gotten to watch his career. So I’ve been just impressed with Jaxson, because I’ve seen him get better every single year,” Manning said. “And that’s what you want your players to do, to make improvements — even though you’re playing well, not being content and wanting to make those improvements every day. So I’ve kind of seen that. It sounds like he’s doing that with the Giants. Every day, you’re going to learn something, and you’re going to make mistakes. That’s just part of it, but learning from those mistakes, not repeating those mistakes, and seems like he’s just trying to be there, earn the respect of his teammates and his coaches through his hard work.”
While Manning’s been down some of the same roads Dart is about to travel, he wants to make sure Dart is able to carve out his own unique path, noting he tries not to offer advice unless called upon.
“I’ve told him, Hey, I’m here to help in any way. I’m a phone call away, a text away, but I’m not getting in the way,” Manning said. “You got to figure out, this is your journey, this is your deal. But if there’s anything you need, happy to be here.”
When it comes to his nephew in Austin, Eli appears keenly aware of the expectations being placed on Arch and seemed careful to not throw additional fuel into the hype train, particularly ahead of an extremely difficult first start in Columbus. Manning joked that his main piece of advice was “throw it to the guy in the same color jersey”, before lauding Arch for how he’s navigated his first two years at Texas in a situation not every young quarterback would have the patience for.
“I think Arch has done a great job on just how he’s handled these first two years of his college career,” Eli added. “Taking advantage when he got the opportunity to play some, but learning, being patient, waiting, and now has a great opportunity to take over the team. He’s earned the respect of his teammates, his coaches, through his hard work, his dedication and and excited to watch him this year. It’s not going to be an easy task, you open up your kind of your college career at Ohio State, defending champs on the road, but it’ll be exciting and just happy for him, because I know how hard he’s worked.”
When asked about any comparisons between he and Arch at the college level, Manning gave his nephew the unquestioned edge as a runner, but also noted that part of what he’s excited about — along with a lot of college football fans — is finally getting to see how Arch grows now that he gets to be the full-time starter.
“I mean, hey, he’s much faster,” Manning said with a laugh. “He’s played in two real games, you know, two starts under his belt. I had a lot of starts over the years, but I think he’s got a lot of potential, and hopefully breaks all — well, I don’t have any records anymore — but he’s gonna have a great college career, and just looking forward to him enjoying that experience. Because I remember my time, and it’s not much better than being in college, playing football with your best buds, learning each and every week something new about the game and the process. And so, you see that hunger with him. He wants to get better, he wants to learn, he wants to ask. He asks me great questions, so excited to be there as part of his journey.”
An awful lot of folks, including NFL front offices, will also be locked in on Arch’s development this season as he’ll be draft eligible in 2026. However, as Eli noted in that quote, the Manning’s value the college experience as a family. Both Eli and Peyton spent all four years in college before departing for the NFL and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Arch did the same, so teams on the March for Arch might need to be flexible on pivoting to 2027.
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