This coming season, the New York Giants could see themselves in one of the most competitive divisions in football. The NFC East has every reason to be a dog fight, and a lot of that comes from the quarterbacks.
In a segment on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football," former NFL head coach Herm Edwards talked a bit about these quarterbacks. When he got to Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, he didn't mince words:
"Young quarterback, he's got to learn how to protect himself. He seems like he wants to prove something, like he's Superman.
"Harbaugh would tell him, 'I had another guy similar to you, Lamar Jackson ... and you got to be able to play, you got to be available.' All this running around, getting hit, getting up, blood running down, nobody wants to see that!"
Well, in short, he isn't entirely wrong.
Herm Edwards said what many Giants fans have been thinking about Jaxson Dart
By now, we know that Dart's playing style is how he's always played. The quarterback has told us all, publicly, that he plays the way he's always played. At the same time, he hasn't shown a whole lot of willingness to adapt.
Now, there is something to be said about a guy who lays it all out there for the sake of the team and winning football games. It is admirable. It's gutsy. It's doing some of the dirty work that a lot of other quarterbacks won't do.
However, the flip side of that is the fact that many quarterbacks won't do it for good reason. Edwards is right. Coach John Harbaugh is undoubtedly going to try and help Dart understand that he cannot play the exact same way going forward.
Harbaugh's experience with Lamar Jackson will certainly play a part.
The part where Edwards mentioned Superman, though, will resonate with fans. How could it not? Dart's arrival and performance in New York, as a rookie, felt a lot like he was playing Superman. At one point, he was out there with no Malik Nabers and no Cam Skattebo. He was doing a lot of the heavy lifting by himself.
But, Harbagh is going to help instill the idea that Dart doesn't have to be Superman. Edwards is spot-on with these words.
There is no need to be Superman.
There might come times where Dart has to put the team on his back, and sure, it'll be more than acceptable for him to do so. But, to put himself in harm's way on those methodical plays that shouldn't end with Dart getting bloodied up is simply foolish. That has to stop, and I think that's where Edwards was coming from.
Between the likes of Edwards and Harbaugh, that's a couple of coaches with a lot of experience. Hopefully, the experience and knowledge from guys like them will get through to Dart. Hopefully, we do start to see a shift in Dart's style of play while also being able to maintain the dual-threat excitement as part of the whole package.
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