The moment the New York Giants picked quarterback Jaxson Dart, he became the most important player on the roster. With his first-round draft capital, the extra ammunition traded for his selection, the jobs on the line, and the chance he changes the Giants’ fortunes, it is imperative that he turns into a franchise quarterback.
But franchise quarterbacks are made more often than they are born. Dart is entering the league with plenty of intangible work to be done. The difference between Lane Kiffin and head coach Brian Daboll’s offense is significant, and the Giants won’t be forcing Dart into action sooner than they have to.
New York made that promise by signing two veteran quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, to insulate the passing offense. It’s part of a cohesive plan the regime has bought into, and it’s giving fans even more reason to be excited by Dart’s arrival.
At OTAs, Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka detailed the plan for developing the rookie quarterback.
“Yeah, I think whenever you draft a quarterback early, you want to have a plan or some semblance of a plan or schedule put in place to understand that it's not really a one week; it's a six month, one year, two year type plan for really any player,” Kafka said, via team transcript. “For any player you get you want to see what that player is going to be at some point in the distance, six months, 12 months, 18 months in the future, where his progress is and where he should be. That way, along the way you can evaluate is he on schedule? Is he a little bit further behind? Do we need to add or subtract certain things?”
Dart could certainly leapfrog Wilson and Winston at some point, but a daunting early-season schedule likely pushes his debut deep into the season, if at all. In the meantime, what he shows between Sundays will let New York know how successful its plan is.
Kafka noted that, despite its significance, Dart’s development doesn’t have to look drastically different from the young contributors across the roster.
“So that's no different for any position,” he continued. “For the quarterback, that's what you try to put together. I'm not going to get into the details of that plan, but that's what you want to look for. You try to put those touchpoints on, okay, is he at this point come training camp? Start of the season, where is (it) with protections or assignments? Things like that. We try to put together a little checklist and a plan for every player, and the quarterback is no different.”
As the clock ticks toward preseason games and fans’ first extended look at the rookie, the hype will grow. Regardless of how those late-summer looks go, the New York faithful can rest assured that he’s set up for success.
Daboll has waited three seasons to pick his quarterback. The offensive line and running game should be adequate and receiver Malik Nabers is a full-blown superstar. A revamped defense only makes the Giants more dangerous, too. With two mentors ahead of him on the depth chart and a coaching staff hell-bent on making sure they get this right, Dart is well-equipped to hit the ground running whenever New York ultimately gives him the green light.
“For Jaxson, it's about getting around those guys, seeing how they work, seeing how they ask questions, seeing how they are in the meeting room, seeing how they interact in the locker room with the players, the command they have in and out of the huddle.”