Where Giants QB Jaxson Dart Excelled in Rookie Minicamp and Where He Still Has Room to Grow

For the first time in quite a while, the New York Giants have a promising rookie quarterback in Jaxson Dart.

While this past weekend’s minicamp is a limited portion of the offseason, and most of Dart's work was limited to 7-on-7s, where there is no pass rush to worry about, there’s still value to be had in how he performed.  

We can start with his accuracy. Dart went 8-of-10 on Day 1 of the camp and 5-of-10 on Day 2. While those numbers in themselves mean that anyone should be anointing Dart as the new Patrick Mahomes, what was particularly encouraging about the showing is that he was basically throwing to receivers to whom he had never before thrown (except for Antwane “Juice” Wells, who caught balls from Dart at Ole Miss).

We can also add Dart’s taking the bull by the horns and going through each day’s script with his teammates following the team meeting, something Dart mentioned he did following the initial orientation meeting on Thursday during the bus ride back to the hotel.

Now, this is not to say that Dart was perfect. Certainly, head coach Brian Daboll, who was never more than a few steps away from Dart when he was throwing the football, has probably found things he wants Dart to work on. 

And quite honestly, in these camp settings, it’s not particularly important to worry about having the playbook down or any miscommunication between Dart and receivers, given that the players only received their playbooks on Thursday evening.  

For Dart, the biggest value he will gain initially is in his mechanics and his decision-making, but mainly his mechanics.

Mechanics is an area where Dart genuinely needs to develop, as he sometimes has disengaged footwork in the pocket and tries to speed up his motion a little bit.

While there don’t need to be significant changes made to his motion, some tweaks that Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney are sure to address with him will go a long way toward making him more pro-ready.

Decision-making is something to note, but some context is necessary here. As mentioned, Dart went through the rookie minicamp with zero pass rush in his face.

As coaches will tell you, especially at this time of year, they don’t care much if a quarterback throws interceptions in practice because such mistakes uncover what a quarterback can and can’t do in a game.

For Dart, making a throw that is at least possible will be important even if it’s not realistic or smart, whereas a wildly irresponsible throw will be frustrating.

In short, Dart’s promising rookie minicamp is a good sign and a good start to his NFL career, but it’s way too premature to think of him jumping over Jamesis Wisnton for QB2 or even challenging Russell Wilson for QB1. 

There could be a point or two in the coming year in which Dart gets game snaps, but that point would only come if one of Wilson or Winston is inactive due to injury.

Dart will likely be the emergency quarterback to start the season, which would mean he wouldn’t even be called upon for a mop-up role unless the two guys ahead of him are unable to play.

In the meantime, Daboll’s plan for developing Dart seems to be more of a “slow and steady wins the race” kind of approach, which, if you think about it, is a smart move.

The Giants ensured they secured the services of two veterans to hold down the fort and prevent Dart from being thrown into the pool's deep end before he was ready. 

And if he turns out to be as coachable as he claims to be, the wait will be well worth it for Giants fans.

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