Why Giants Need to Protect Jaxson Dart from Himself 

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart has a fierce competitive streak: he not only hates to lose but also drives him to stay in games, regardless of how lopsided the score might be.

It doesn’t matter to him if he’s taking a beating. In fact, when asked if he would exercise better judgment when running with the ball, he boldly declared, “I'm going to play the game the way I want to play the game.”

Even if it means putting himself at risk of injury?

“That's definitely something that when you watch the tape back on, you try to think of those moments where you can save your body, a hit or not,” Dart admitted. 

“At the same time, it's really hard for me in those moments because I just want to compete. Ultimately, I just want to score.”

It’s hard to argue with the young quarterback’s passion and fire, especially these days with the New York Giants searching for any kind of spark in what is yet another lost season. 

Dart, without question, has made this team worth continuing to watch, and Giants fans everywhere are undoubtedly fantasizing about what this offense could look like with a healthy Malik Nabers, a healthy Cam Skattebo, and another play-making receiver added back to the mix come next season.

But for as much as people seem to love Dart’s brashness and willingness to put it all on the line every single play, regardless of the score, it’s also not in his or the team’s long-term best interest to allow this to continue.

This is not to say that Dart needs to be immediately pulled off the field and placed in bubble wrap for the remainder of the year. 

But in games where the outcome has pretty much been decided, there should be no reason to continue putting the franchise at risk, especially as a runner as was the case in last week’s loss when with 1:56 left in the game and the Giants down 34-17, Dart, on a 10-yard scramble, took a shot from 49ers linebacker Tatum Bethune that appeared to rattle him when he eventually went to the sideline. 

“Jaxson's a competitor. We'll do the things we think we need to do,” head coach Brian Daboll said. 

“You never want anybody to get hurt, but like I've said many times before, it's an opportunity every time you step on the field to do that. Some of it is scrambling, a couple of runs that we had on the outside, but we’ll just keep working with him and do what we think we need to do.”