Hiring John Harbaugh to be their head coach is the most important thing the New York Giants did this offseason, perhaps the most important thing they have done in a long time. Now, the most important thing Harbaugh and his coaching staff have to do is put Jaxson Dart in the best possible position to become the quarterback his 2025 rookie season hinted he could be.
Dart is, of course, No. 1 on our list of ‘most important Giants players of 2026’. Was there ever any doubt he would top the list?
The Giants
are in the same place entering this season as they were with Daniel Jones in 2020.
Jones was drafted sixth overall in 2019 to be the heir to Eli Manning as franchise quarterback. The Giants traded up last year to select Dart 25th overall — hopefully to be what Jones eventually proved he could not be. That, of course, is a top-tier quarterback who could lead the Giants out of the losing cycle they have been in since the 2011 Super Bowl.
Like Dart, Jones showed a ton of promise in 2019. He threw 24 touchdown passes, still his career high. He was intercepted just 12 times. He had an acceptable 87.7 passer rating. He showed the ability to make plays with his legs. His primary issue, aside from learning to handle the complexities of the position at the NFL level, was a propensity to fumble too often.
After that season, Jones did help the Giants get to the playoffs and win a game there in 2022, but things really went sideways. Injuries, coaching changes, a weak supporting cast, and poor play all led the Giants to move on from Jones midseason in 2024 and start over with Dart last season.
Which way will things go with Dart?
Harbaugh has done the quarterback development thing before. The first player the Baltimore Ravens drafted after Harbaugh became head coach in 2008 was Joe Flacco. The Ravens won a Super Bowl with Flacco in 2012. Many doubted Lamar Jackson’s ability to be a franchise quarterback. Baltimore drafted him 32nd overall in 2018. He has won two MVPs and been a three-time All-Pro.
Harbaugh did not win a Super Bowl in eight seasons with Jackson. Still, he gets credit for helping both Flacco and Jackson develop into the players they became.
Harbaugh loves to talk about traits. There are traits a quarterback needs, but no magic formula for how to maximize those traits and get a quarterback — or any player — to reach his potential.
“Well, to me it starts with the ability to make plays,” Harbaugh said at the NFL Scouting Combine when I asked him about developing quarterbacks. “Your quarterback, you watch all the games, you’ll see the quarterback is making a difference one way or another. So it just takes an exceptional level of talent, play-making ability, awareness, grit, all those different things.
“Sometimes it’s arm strength, sometimes it’s accuracy, sometimes it’s almost always the ability to get out of the pocket and make a play. So all those things that Jackson has that I’m excited about, it’ll be fun. It’ll be fun to get with him and do it one more time.”
Dart showed many good things as a rookie. Among them:
- Leadership
- Moxie
- Ability to make off-platform plays
- Enough arm to make every throw
- Ability, willingness to make plays with his legs
The list of things Dart needs to improve upon is fairly typical for a young quarterback:
- Developing more patience in the pocket. Per Pro Football Focus, Dart led the league in self-inflicted pressure last season, indicating a lack of trust in what he saw.
- Learning more about reading defenses, getting to his second and third reads, and throwing with anticipation.
- Working from under center and throwing off play-action. PFF data places him among the worst quarterbacks in the league while using play action in 2025.
- Making “mature decisions” while running with the ball. Dart has talked about this, knowing he needs to protect himself.
- His deep ball accuracy wasn’t impressive statistically. It was, though, hurt by four drops in 50 throws of 20 or more yards.
Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic recently took a fascinating look at the things Dart did well in 2025 and the areas where he needs to improve.
When I read Baumgardner’s piece, I can boil it down to this: As talented as he is, Dart is a young player who needs to learn more about playing quarterback, so he has to rely less on his athleticism. I made the point earlier that I see this as typical of a young quarterback.
Brian Daboll banged the table for the Giants to select Dart a year ago. Much was made of Daboll’s reputation for working with young quarterbacks, deserved or not, and the Dart-Daboll relationship seemed to be a good one. Daboll, though, got fired. There is a lot more to being a head coach than dealing with the quarterback.
Now, Harbaugh and his staff are in charge of shepherding Dart’s development.
Harbaugh has put a veteran staff around Dart. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy worked with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City and had success with Mitchell Trubisky in Chicago. Quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan has worked with Peyton Manning, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, and Derek Carr. Senior offensive assistant Greg Roman is a four-time NFL offensive coordinator.
It is a staff that should be well-positioned to help Dart become the player the Giants believe he can be. Their future depends on them getting it right.
