Daniel Jones, often scorned and finally booted as New York Giants quarterback, is now the starting quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. There is a lesson for the Giants in there, a lesson that has far more to do with the player Jones took the job from, Anthony Richardson, than with Jones himself.
It can’t be denied that the Giants organization, from co-owner John Mara all the way down to current quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, ex-head coach Joe Judge and ex-offensive coordinator Jason Garrett will
have egg on their collective faces if Jones excels in Indianapolis.
I think the real lesson for the Giants, though, with a first-round rookie quarterback to develop in Jaxson Dart, revolves around Richardson.
The Colts have 100% botched the Richardson situation.
First of all, Richardson never should have been the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. It was clear to anyone watching him that no matter how far he could throw the ball or how fast he could run, he was an extremely inexperienced player who wasn’t even a good college quarterback.
Richardson came to the NFL with no real idea how to play quarterback. As a quarterback, he was, and still is, a good running back who is taking snaps from center.
Despite that, the Colts named him their Week 1 starter in his rookie season. He got hurt and played just four games. He was their starter again last year, and again proved not ready for the job.
In a league where offensive play-callers can scheme up quick, short throws that should allow competent quarterbacks to hit a 60% completion rate, Richardson has completed 50.6% of his NFL passes.
He showed in Week 1 of preseason, when he got hurt because he did not recognize a blitz, that in his third season he can neither read a defense nor identify an oncoming blitz.
Yet, the Colts, because they used a premium draft pick on Richardson, stuck him out there Week 1 of his rookie season and hoped his athleticism until he actually learned to play quarterback.
Instead, it broke him. And now, they have Jones.
Which brings us to Dart and the Giants.
It is clear to me that Dart, right now, is a better NFL quarterback than Richardson. Dart is a Giant, though, not a Colt and the Giants have no intention of playing him right away.
It is also clear to me that not playing Dart right away is absolutely the proper way to handle the situation.
Yes, Dart has been impressive. Yes, he has shown the Giants everything on and off the field that a franchise could hope to see from a quarterback selected in the first round. Yes, I think there is a chance that Dart becomes a very good NFL quarterback.
Yes, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans and Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders have shown in the past two seasons that the right rookie quarterbacks in the right situations can succeed right away.
Yes, NFL analysts and former NFL quarterbacks like Dan Orlovsky and Chase Daniel have loved what they have seen from Dart thus far. Daniel has been particularly vocal about the idea that Dart should be the starter as soon as possible.
Daniel said this on the ‘Scoop City’ podcast:
“So, I understand what Brian Daboll is doing. But if this season doesn’t go as planned right off the bat they should be talking in New York to play the young guy … the only way to develop as a quarterback in the National Football League is to play real games. Forget about practice. Forget about preseason. You have to learn on the job, and hopefully you’re good enough.”
That isn’t Daniel saying Dart should start Week 1, though I have seen Daniel break down enough of Dart to be pretty sure that is what he believes.
I do agree that the Giants should go to Dart sooner rather than later — perhaps as soon as it becomes apparent they are not a playoff team. But Week 1, with the situation the Giants have created at quarterback, is a bridge too far.
Honestly, with the season-starting schedule the Giants have I would let Jameis Winston start the first few games if Wilson was not on the roster.
Let me ask this question:
When has it EVER hurt a rookie quarterback to sit and watch, even if just for a few games?
I think the answer is NEVER.
When has it hurt a rookie quarterback to be asked to be the savior of a struggling franchise from the time he walked in the door? Over and over. NFL history is littered with quarterbacks who have been broken by the responsibility of carrying a burden they weren’t ready for. Richardson is just another name to be added to a very long scroll.
Do I think playing — and struggling — right away would break Dart? Not if I have judged him correctly in my interactions with him since he was drafted by the Giants.
Still, it isn’t going to hurt him — or the future of the franchise — to watch Wilson play for a while. It could, perhaps, hurt him to get pounded and confused by the Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in the first four weeks of the season.
“Every quarterback is different,” said Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. “You see guys that play week one or are a day one starter. Like, (Washington Commanders quarterback) Jayden Daniels, a guy like last year, it was day one he was the first guy in. But then other players have different trajectories and different, I guess, stories, right?
“So, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way. I think you’ve got to understand the guy. I think you’ve got to understand where your team is at. I think you’ve got to understand how fast of a learner he is or where he’s at in his kind of the profile of the player and where the offense is and what you can do with the offense. So, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way. I think you just have to have a plan for what you want to do and then just kind of work through it from there and adjust along the way. There’s no, like, cookie-cutter way of doing it. Just be flexible with it.”
Even Dart, who I guarantee believes he is ready to be the quarterback Week 1 against the Commanders, seems to realize the benefit of the situation he is in. This is what Dart said after going 14 of 16 in the Week 2 preseason game against the New York Jets:
“I’m in a really unique and cool situation right now. So I’m just trying to learn from them, learn from all my coaches. Whenever my number is called, I think that I’m just going to try to do my best. But I’m also just going to be the best teammate that I can be and try to push this team in the best direction to win.”
In my view, the Giants have built a quarterback room that has already and will continue to help Dart, and with that room there is no reason to feed Dart to the NFL wolves just yet.
