Jaxson Dart has enjoyed a roller coaster-esque rookie season with the New York Giants, but the overarching storyline has been the injury woes. However, Dart managed to stay healthy in Big Blue's Week 16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but instead turned in the worst start of his short NFL career.
Against a stout Minnesota defense, the 22-year-old completed just seven of 13 pass attempts for 33 yards and an interception, which is far from promising. His play has gradually started to decline since Brian Daboll was fired, which led ex-NFL running back Damien Harris to sound off on CBS Sports HQ.
"I'm not sold that Jaxson Dart is the guy," Harris said. When I watch him play, I truly just don't think he's the guy... Whenever he tries to extend plays and use his legs and have this bat out of hell mentality, he just exposes himself to injuries, and we've already seen that."
While the 2025 first-round pick has turned heads in pursuit of being named the Offensive Rookie of the Year, Harris admitted that he doesn't believe in Dart as much as others do. He believes that there isn't enough consistency to allow the Giants to immediately deem him the long-term answer at QB.
Damien Harris boldly takes a shot at Jaxson Dart's lack of consistency
On Sunday, the Ole Miss product logged a 27.4 passer rating, which is exactly what Giants fans haven't wanted to see from their supposed franchise quarterback. But given the team is amid a nine-game losing streak and the coaching staff is inept, Dart might be stuck suffering in New York for a bit.
Nobody is denying that Harris has a point in the criticism of his play style since the injuries continue to persist. But what has social media in an uproar is the fact that the supporting cast has been battered due to injury, and now Andrew Thomas going down on Sunday was the tip of the iceberg.
No Cam Skattebo, Malik Nabers, and arguably the worst receiver room in football (without Nabers) will never be enough to move the needle. It didn't help that the Giants ran the ball 30 times in the loss, since trusting Dart to win them the game through the air is what you expect from a prized rookie QB.
And given Harris said he thinks Dart's failure to protect himself as the team's future is telling, but that's not the biggest concern. The most alarming aspect of his struggles this season is the fact that he will never be set up for success as long as the Giants keep hiring and firing all of the wrong people.
"When you watch guys play, you can see when they have it, and I don't see it with Jaxson Dart," Harris said. "I just see too much inconsistency, too much liability, and I just don't see the fundamentals that can keep you from losing before they get you to a place where you win."
It's clear that Dart's confidence has faded since returning from injury, so the media jumping onto the dogpile isn't concerning. And if it were up to Harris, the Giants would certainly consider trading him in order to draft Fernando Mendoza with the top pick.