Thanks to the “Hard Knocks” cameras rolling last offseason, quarterback Jaxson Dart knew what was coming when he made his Top 30 visit to the Giants before the NFL Draft: Head coach Brian Daboll and his staff would be leading an in-depth grilling on concepts, protections, offense, and drawing out plays on the whiteboard.
“It’s intense,” he said about the experience with the wide smile he wore for the entirety of the news conference that followed his first practice with the Giants on Friday.
“I kinda had an idea coming into it that I had to make sure I was on my Ps and Qs when I walked in,” the first-round pick said. “It was super fun, I think at the same time me and [Daboll] were just able to form like an organic relationship. And they definitely tested me harder than any other team throughout this process.”
The Giants released a portion of the meeting 50 days before they traded up to the No. 25 slot to take the QB out of Ole Miss in their own in-house, behind-the-scenes docuseries “Giants Life.”
The clip, shown in non-chronological order, ends with Daboll drawing a play on the board and Dart identifying a concept. Something he figured out “pretty quick.”
“And then it was a question that they hadn’t put into my install for me to know, and I just kind of knew,” he said of the moment that was punctuated with laughs from Daboll and the coaches in the room.
Dart, born nearly two years after the first season of “Hard Knocks” premiered, said he didn’t watch last offseason except for seeing “clips of it on TikTok.”
The coaching staff isn’t the only one impressed with the QB’s quick thinking; fellow rookie Cam Skattebo praised Dart for his intelligence in picking up some of the Giants’ offense being installed for the first-year players.
“He did a great job today with the 7-on-7 play calls, snap counts and all of that, and making sure everybody was in line,” Skattebo said. “I can’t wait to see what he does and what he’s capable of.”
“As a quarterback, you run the ship when you’re out there,” Dart said. “So, if you don’t know the ins and outs of everything, you’re not going to have everybody around you prepared.
“…It’s very important to have that mindset coming to work each and every day. And I think that also raises the bar for everybody around you… if you want to be a great team and you want to compete at the highest level, that’s definitely how you have to be as a quarterback.”
In the hopes of keeping everyone on the same page during the 7-on-7 drills in Friday’s practice, Dart and the offensive players got together for an impromptu walkthrough of the script while on the bus back to the hotel on Thursday to make the operation “a lot smoother.”
“I tried to get as many guys as I could together on the offensive side of the ball and go through it and teach everybody, making sure that we’re all on the same page,” he said.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old added that his commitment to preparedness is what gives him the confidence to play, so that when he goes on the field, he doesn’t have any doubts.
“I think that comes from taking the time to really understand the scheme and what I’m doing and why is a play called to execute a certain way,” he said. “And that’s something that I take pride [in]. And then as a quarterback, you’re only as good as the guys around you. You want make sure that everybody’s on the same page and everybody has that same preparation aspect of making sure that everything’s down to a T and is done the right way.”
He added: “I’m a competitor, and I feel like if you don’t see yourself playing at the highest level, you shouldn’t even be between those lines in the first place, especially as the quarterback.”
One thing Dart must adjust to is getting used to is using a snap count for the first time after clapping to initiate the play during his time in college.
“Did you guys hear me good when I was out there?” he asked the reporters. “It’s been super fun. Quite honestly, it’s been something that I’ve always wanted to do.”
Daboll acknowledged before practice that this will be a transition for him, but didn’t expect any big bumps for Dart as learning a cadence is not like “rocket science.”
Another thing the confident quarterback might have to get used to is sitting, as veteran Russell Wilson is set to be the Giants’ starter. When was the last time Dart sat? “I haven’t really sat before.”
“I understand what the situation is, but for me and myself, I care about winning,” the QB continued. “There’s nothing fun about losing, so it doesn’t matter where you’re at on the depth chart, if you’re playing this much or not playing this much, if you’re losing, it sucks.
“For me, I want to make the team better, and that’s my focus.”
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