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Brian Daboll may love Jaxson Dart, but does he deserve to coach Giants' rookie QB?
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- Brian Daboll may love Jaxson Dart, but does he deserve to coach Giants' rookie QB?
Editor's note: The New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Nov. 10 .
The affection shown to Jaxson Dart from New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll has been well-documented. The long hugs. The eye contact. Makes sense, since Daboll's ever-decreasing chances of hanging onto his job partially hinged on the rookie quarterback's development in what will be the third straight season the team has missed the playoffs.
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The way Daboll coaches Dart and calls plays for the 25th overall pick in the 2025 draft could not paint a more paradoxical picture. In four of Dart's seven starts, he's been evaluated for injury. And the bill finally came due during a 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9 when Dart left in the second half with a concussion . Dart actually returned for two plays before the end of the third quarter after he suffered the injury on a hit on a designed quarterback run. The play led to a fumble, and potentially far more catastrophic, a concussion that could hamper a rookie campaign that featured lots of losing but valuable experience, even with a decrepit roster around Dart.
The Giants led by 10 points with about five minutes left in the third quarter. Keeping the ball on the ground was preferable. Doing it with a rookie quarterback who hasn't mastered the art of taking a hit was questionable even without hindsight.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 09: Jaxson Dart #6 of the New York Giants walks off the field after an injury during the fourth quarter in the game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on November 09, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
Dart's ability to extend plays that lead to explosive passes or use his legs to gain yards are all part of why Giants fans are excited about the 22-year-old. In that sense, it's a shame that this relationship won't have a chance to blossom past the honeymoon phase. Daboll's work with quarterbacks is commendable and there appears to be a genuine rapport between the two. The problem for Daboll is that the job description of "head coach" entails more beyond quarterback development, even if that is a primary responsibility.
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Multiple times per week, opposing defenses crush Dart on designed quarterback-run plays. These hits are already having a negative effect on Dart from what we can see. When he's not coming out of the game with a concussion, as he did against the Bears, then Daboll and fellow rookie Cam Skattebo , Dart's backfield brethren, are checking on him in the blue medical tent (and subsequently being fined for the poor optics and technical reasoning of interrupting an ongoing evaluation for a concussion). At the end of a Nov. 2 loss to the San Francisco 49ers , broadcast cameras captured Dart crouched near the bench with his head bowed, face contorted in a mixture of exhaustion and pain.
Daboll keeps running Dart into harm, himself out of a job
Since taking over the starter role Week 4, Dart has seven rushing touchdowns on 77 attempts, including a pair against Chicago. In only one of those games did he not find the end zone on the ground (Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints ). He carried six times against the Bears and also took a pair of sacks.
Most quarterbacks with a style of play like Dart take time to develop the professional maturity that is self-preservation. Look at the Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels , the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, from a week ago; he scrambled in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss and suffered a dislocated elbow on his non-throwing arm. It may feel like an apples-to-oranges comparison, but what is consistent is that somebody needs to be the adult in the room. That someone is always going to have to be (or should be) the head coach.
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Something Giants owner John Mara has to ask himself this week is whether he believes Daboll – who knew his job was on the line coming into this season thanks to his boss' offseason declaration – is capable of extricating himself from the pull of running Dart for the greater good of the organization and Dart's future, which presumably does not involve him.
That's not to say the red-zone calls that end with Dart doing some TikTok dance in celebration of another rushing touchdown should be thrown in the trash. Those are the plays that should be embraced. But there is the phenomenon known as "too much of a good thing." That requires discipline from leadership. In fairness to Daboll, the lack of playmakers on offense ( Malik Nabers done for the season with an ACL injury, Skattebo on injured reserve, for example) makes keeping the ball in Dart's hands that much more palatable.
During the offseason, as Russell Wilson was propped up as the starter, Daboll hinted at Dart's anticipated involvement through a package of plays specific to his skill set – essentially that he would be brought in to run or hand the ball off, which happened in two of the three games before Wilson's general incompetence opened the window for Daboll to insert his guy behind center in Dart.
The odds of Daboll sticking around for Year 2 of Dart dwindle with each week. This goes beyond the fact that the Giants blew their third double-digit lead of the season and, at 2-8, feel destined for the cellar of a non-competitive NFC East. A lot of that has to do with the defense and inability to close games, which is also a coaching conundrum, but in this context, it's about the conscious decision to continue running Dart despite it not being in the player's best interest – or the interest of the franchise and its future.
Whoever the Giants' next head coach is has to understand that.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brian Daboll loves Jaxson Dart, but QB's concussion creates questions
