Dart Gives Progress Report After Minicamp

The moment the New York Giants drafted Mississippi quarterback Jaxson Dart, he became the most important player on the roster. The Giants are treating him as such and structured their quarterback room to best develop the new face of the franchise.

That process began with veteran Jameis Winston, who signed a two-year deal in the opening days of free agency. Days later, New York signed Russell Wilson to a one-year, $10.5 million contract that made him the Week 1 starter.

The Giants will redshirt Dart until he’s fully ready to go, a privilege bought by having two competent quarterbacks ahead of him. While New York’s older passers prepare for the season, they’ll also be mentoring Dart, putting their combined two decades of experience to good use.

After minicamp ended, Dart gave a progress report, reflecting on the work necessary to become a starter.

“I feel like I've made tremendous strides, especially from my first day to now, just being able to understand the pictures of the offense and whatnot,” Dart told reporters. “Obviously, I have dive into a lot more but I'm definitely just trying to take it to the next level over the summer. Really just lock in, hone in on as much as I can throughout this time, so that way when I get back for training camp, I'm on an even better level than I'm now.”

Dart clearly has his fans, but critics pointed to the offense he operated at Mississippi as being elementary compared to what head coach Brian Daboll will ask of him. Dart will have to go through traditional dropbacks and full-field progressions far more often than he did against SEC defenses, and that’s a hurdle not every passer can clear.

Things so far seem to be going well. Beat reporters have praised his practice performance and Daboll is getting him action with the starters and backups alike, forcing him to take control when necessary.

“I think the biggest thing is there's a lot of times where you're making a throw and you feel confident, and you have guys on the other end who are extremely talented, great playmakers who either break a pass up or make a great play on it,” he said. “So, I think probably the biggest thing is just the qualities and just the overall athleticism on the other side of the ball.”

In a league filled with the best of Dart’s collegiate competition, he knows there is little room for error. The time for those miscues, though, is now, where his aggression is a teaching point that won’t show up on the scoreboard.

“I'm an aggressive player as is, so I think that's definitely something that I have to continue to learn,” Dart admitted. “I think this practice setting is a great time for me to do it. Then obviously you make mistakes, you do some really good things and you get to go back and watch the tape and pick up on the things that you need to improve on.”

Giants fans won’t know Dart’s fate for months, but if he’s going to play in Year 1, starting out on the right foot is imperative. It looks like he’s done that, and if his comments are any indication of what’s to come, the New York faithful have every right to be excited.