Eli Manning has spent three decades around the Manning Passing Academy, but this year’s version comes with a different feel. The family’s annual quarterback clinic is marking its 30th year, and the celebration has been turned up a notch with an NFL Films crew on hand to document the weekend.
The academy itself still operates the same way it always has: a weekend session run by Archie, Peyton, Cooper and Eli for high school quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs from across the country. It’s first come, first served, with no attention paid to pedigree, region or school, and the camp is open to 1,400 high school students. It also draws some of the top college quarterbacks in the country to work as counselors.
That made Eli’s appearance on NFL Network a natural spot to discuss both the clinic and one of the Giants’ most important young players, former Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.
The Giants are hoping Dart’s development follows a familiar path. Eli knows the feeling.
New York was convinced it had found “The Guy” when it traded for him in 2004, though the early stretch after he replaced Kurt Warner was rocky. Two decades later, a different Giants front office showed similar belief in Dart when it moved back into the first round to take him 25th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Dart’s rookie season gave the Giants reason to be encouraged even if the wins didn’t pile up. He went 4- games, missed two because of a concussion, and still produced numbers that put his first year in the same conversation as Dan Marino, Cam Newton and Justin Herbert. Now the next step is the one every young quarterback has to make.
“When you’re coming into the NFL, you’re not the starter, you’re a rookie,” Eli said. “It’s kinda hard to know what your role is.
How do you lead guys? Do you know your offense completely?
“I think now, going into his second year, he’s going to have a greater command of the offense, a greater command of what he needs to do,” he added. “How does he need to prepare, how does he watch film, how does he watch the blitz pick up and he’s going to change protections.
So kinda knowing how teams played him, so he can prepare for that and have answers next year. I think it just helps you from the leadership side, and the preparation side of knowing what to expect.
There are still a few areas Dart can sharpen as he settles in as an NFL quarterback. His mechanics can be tightened up so they’re more repeatable and sync better with his receivers.
More reps should also help him react faster to what defenses are doing. And the second Eagles game from last year could be a useful teaching tool for him, especially with so many NFL defenses now looking like “Fangio-Adjacent” versions.
Studying how Philadelphia attacked him and building a plan off that should matter for his growth.
The quarterback clinic isn’t just about the high school players, though. The college passers in attendance are getting plenty out of it too. Eli laid out the schedule from the weekend, including a closed-door session with Peyton and the college quarterbacks.
“Yesterday we were on the field with the college guys,” Eli said. “We did an hour session; going through drills, throwing routes versus air, they’ll do that again today.
Peyton and I will meet with them tomorrow for an hour, kind of closed room, closed door, let them ask questions about anything. The best way to prepare, get ready for a week, if it’s about the Combine, if it’s about the draft, if it’s about the NFL.
Whatever it might be, how to be a great leader, how to help a receiver out if he’s not playing well.
”All these things that they’re going through, Eli added, “to have Peyton and I, two guys that have been through it at every level, that have been in their shoes. I think it’s helpful for them.
It’s on the field stuff, it’s off the field, it’s sitting and having dinner with them and just talking. Peyton and I say ‘hey, any time you see us, if you have any questions, just ask us, take our number down, we want to be a resource and help you out on your path.”
The weekend has also become a kind of unofficial draft gathering. Todd McShay of The Ringer said on his podcast that there were at least five NFL general managers in attendance.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning was the biggest name in the building, but he wasn’t the only notable passer there. CJ Carr of Notre Dame, John Mateer of Oklahoma, Julian Sayin of Ohio State, Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss and Drew Mestemaker of Oklahoma State were also in Thibodaux serving as counselors.
For all the draft chatter, the bigger picture is still the same one that has defined the Manning Passing Academy from the start: two of the best to ever play the position helping the next wave come along. Eli Manning is still doing it the Giants way.
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