Jaxson Dart seemed to consider avoiding would-be tacklers as an insult during his rookie season, but the second-year quarterback admits he’s finally doing “the right thing” for the New York Giants.
The “right thing” in this case means Dart protecting himself when scrambling out of the pocket. He did it on two notable occasions during the 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
Dart was asked about his change of mentality when speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, on Wednesday, September 16. He made clear “it’s important to me to be as healthy as I was from the last snap to the next snap. That puts me in the best situation to execute my job for the team, and help put us in the best situation possible.”
Interestingly, Dart revealed coaches and teammates haven’t talked to him about avoiding unnecessary hits. The 23-year-old explained, “it’s not anything that we’ve had too many discussions about. It’s more of just, you know, all of use just having the understanding that it’s, you know, the right thing to do at times.”
“Definitely take it into account. … it’s the right thing to do at times.”
#GiantsThose words represent quite the about turn from Dart. He was defiant about taking hits and exposing himself to the risk of concussion during his debut campaign.
Dart’s latest words to the media reveal a more mature quarterback. One who showed an impressive mastery of a pro-style offense revamped to better protect him.
Jaxson Dart’s Making Smarter Choices
Dart only needed one play to show he’s going to be smarter about protecting himself this season. He took off on a read-option play on 2nd-and-10 in the first quarter and zeroed in on the sideline.
📺: NBC
Although the play ended in a melee after a late hit by Cowboys’ linebacker DeMarvion Owershown, Dart’s intent was a huge boost for the Giants. This wasn’t a quarterback seeking sanctuary after breaking the pocket to scramble away from pressure.
Instead, Dart made a pre-determined decision to head for out of bounds on a pre-planned play. This is just what the Giants want to see from their dual-threat signal-caller.
Harbaugh will want Dart’s mobility to be a feature of the offense, but he has to trust his QB1 not to take needless risks. Dart’s decision-making against the Cowboys was an important first step, but the Giants can continue keeping him safe with many of the schematic wrinkles that worked during the season-opener.
Giants Have Built More QB-Friendly Offense
When Harbaugh hired Matt Nagy as offensive coordinator and Greg Roman as run-game consultant, he put a stronger framework around Dart. Nagy and Roman’s concepts are forming the more QB-friendly offense Dart operated efficiently in Week 1.
The Roman-crafted ground attack did the dirty work by pummelling the Dallas defense. Relentless running controlled the clock and kept Dart out of too many obvious passing situations.
When he did have to throw, Dart had a lot of time behind an offensive line underpinned by a dominant rookie who set NFL records. Dart also benefitted from quick, short throws off easy reads.
The Giants created a lot of success for Dart throwing into the flats, where he was “5/5, 40 yards, 2 TDs,” per Next Gen Stats (h/t Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports).
(per @NextGenStats)
Those throws make the job easier for Dart and his blockers. The combination can help a young quarterback learn to trust his arm and the pocket more often.
So far the plan is working because Dart is all in on doing “the right thing.”
Jaxson Dart Admits He’s Finally Doing ‘The Right Thing’ for Giants