Much of the offseason talk around Jaxson Dart and the New York Giants has been surprisingly positive, even factoring in April’s Dexter Lawrence trade.
CBS Sports’ Jared Dubin deserves some credit, if only for his consistent negativity and cynicism.
Dubin initially caught our attention last week, when he ripped Dart for playing with a “reckless physical style that frankly isn’t sustainable.” Such an observation was fair, especially after Dart was evaluated for concussions at least five times last year.
However, Dubin put Dart in a no-win situation by seemingly doubting that changing his approach would merit successful results.
Dubin continued his Dart critiques on Thursday, though to a lesser extent. When ranking the NFL’s 12 new quarterback-coach combos, Dubin listed Dart and John Harbaugh at No. 6.
Dubin repeated many of his same talking points regarding Dart’s aggressive approach and the dangers of taking so many hits.
“He wasn’t quite as electric when working inside the structure,” Dubin wrote, “but that’s the type of thing that can improve over time.”
Dubin saved his issues for Harbaugh and Matt Nagy, arguing that Harbaugh, a former special teams coach, relies too heavily on his coordinators.
“Matt Nagy is... not an encouraging hire to run the offense,” Dubin wrote. “That’s why we couldn’t justify putting the Giants higher than this.”
CBS Sports continues being too hard on Jaxson Dart and the Giants
Dubin isn’t alone in questioning Nagy, and The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen recently said he believes the Giants’ offense runs the risk of being repetitive.
What we don’t understand, though, is how the Robert Saleh-Cam Ward partnership ranked higher than Harbaugh and Dart.
Objectively speaking, many of the same general concerns about Nagy should also apply to Brian Daboll, the former Giants coach and new Titans offensive coordinator.
Nagy and Daboll both worked with elite quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, respectively. Daboll also tried to get the most out of Daniel Jones, and Dart played well under his watch, albeit the concussions arguably helped cost Daboll his job.
“The offenses in New York under Saleh were underwhelming but his defenses were consistently excellent, and that should help Ward, as well,” Dubin wrote.
Yet, Dubin established that he was only ranking the duos rather than the team itself. In that case, shouldn’t Harbaugh’s history of strong defenses and special teams elevate the Giants over the Titans?
Dubin noted the Titans bolstering their offense with Wan’Dale Robinson and Carnell Tate, but neglected to mention the arrivals of Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin, and Isaiah Likely — not to mention rookie right guard Francis Mauigoa.
Barring disaster, we’ll get to see the Dart-Harbaugh duo battle it out with Ward, Saleh, and the Titans in Week 3.
Naturally, though, we should probably plan on Jameis Winston or Mitchell Trubisky seeing extended action for the Giants or Titans that day.
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