‘You’re not going to survive’ – New Giants coach sets out clear Jaxson Dart plan for QB’s crucial second season

Jaxson Dart enters Year 2 of his NFL career with new coaches running point.

The New York Giants are ushering in a new era after having appointed the very experienced John Harbaugh following his 17 seasons as the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

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With him he brought a plethora of new talent into the building including Isaiah Likely – who has been likened to a ‘young Travis Kelce’ – Patrick Ricard, and Jordan Stout – and that’s just from the Ravens.

But the team have bolstered almost all facets of their team with the acquisitions of Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin III, and Tremaine Edmunds, among others.

For second-year pro Dart, who made his debut in Week 4 after the now-retired Russell Wilson was benched, he now has a stacked receiving corps that also includes Malik Nabers once he is cleared to return from an ACL injury suffered last season, as well as his backcourt partner in Cam Skattebo.

With Harbaugh there to develop him, as well as former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy now on the staff, there is the expectation that Dart is primed to take a huge leap next season, following on from his 2,272 passing yards and 15 touchdowns to just five interceptions as a rookie.

The former Ole Miss star also rushed for 487 yards and nine touchdowns, showcasing himself to be a dual threat that was integral to the Giants being ranked statistically as the fifth-best rushing unit in the NFL last season.

But nothing comes that easy, and Dart has still got to put in the work to show that he is the man to lead Big Blue out of mediocrity and back into Super Bowl contention.

Nurturing Dart’s game to help him play smart and safe

One of Dart’s major flaws to his game as a young quarterback still learning the ropes of the NFL was his seeming inability to play smart, especially when opting to scramble and the opposing defense was bearing down on him.

This led to him being evaluated for concussions at multiple points throughout the season.

Nagy, who helped develop three-time Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes during his time in Kansas City, is hoping to help Dart assess these types of scenarios going forward so that he can avoid taking as many hard hits as he did, which in turn, will likely prolong his career.

“We’ve said for many years to Pat, ‘Use your legs as a weapon,'” Nagy said.

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“What I’ve really noticed and come to appreciate with Patrick is that when he does use his legs, he makes you pay … otherwise, he’s going to throw it.

“It’s picking and choosing when are you going to use your legs as a weapon and trying to translate that to Jaxson because he’s really good at running the football, and he’s tough. So you put all that together, [and] now we just got to figure out, ‘OK, when?’

“When do we sacrifice our body for the good of the team versus losing you and not having you play?”

Giants General Manager Joe Schoen has some prior experience with dealing with this scenario from his time as the assistant GM of the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen.

During the early phases of Allen’s rookie season, he would often take off when he spotted a gap, and even hurdled some defenders.

Whilst this was impressive from a highlights standpoint, there were concerns over his durability and longevity in the league should he continue to play that way.

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“It was unbelievable, but you’re like, ‘You’re never going to survive,'” Schoen said in June. “Then you see him on Monday, Week 3, and then you see him Monday, Week 4, and then Monday, Week 6, and he can barely walk. You’re like, ‘This stuff starts to add up.’

“You start to realize that Monday sucks if you take those unnecessary hits because you feel like you were in a car crash. So sometimes you just got to go through it, and you got to live and learn.”

Nonetheless, Giants veteran backup Jameis Winston has full faith in Dart to lead the team forward, and grow as a player at the same time.

“Jaxson’s a young superstar because he loves it,” Winston said. “He’s obsessed with football. He’s not into all the glitz and glamor.

“Yes, he’s swag. Yes, he’s good-looking. Yes, he can play great football, but he’s obsessed with this game. And I think when all those things that come with football, when you have a reverence for what the game stands for, you end up panning out to be great.”

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