How Giants Are Trying to Strike Balance when Running QB Jaxson Dart

In quarterback Jaxson Dart, the New York Giants have themselves another viable weapon on offense that opens up a world of additional possibilities within the game plan.

The problem, though, in calling upon Dart to execute designed runs is that the young rookie, who is entering his second week in the league’s concussion protocol, has become something of a hazard to himself, given his competitive streak that clouds his judgment as to when to go for all the marbles and when to live to see another down.

It’s a challenge that Dart, interim head coach Mike Kafka, and the rest of those who work with the rookie have been trying to overcome daily, thus far with minimal results, given that Dart has already been subjected to four medical checks for head injuries after showing off his fearlessness–or is that recklessness?-- as a runner.

“I think Jaxson, going through the whole draft process with him and understanding what kind of player he is, he's an aggressive player, and that's what we love about him,” Kafka said.

“Obviously, you want to show him some examples that he can learn from. I think he's going through that now, and I think he'll continue to grow from those things.”

The problem with that approach is that no two examples are ever the same, which makes the challenge even stickier.

“The game is very fluid. It's very different,” Kafka acknowledged. “Every single play is kind of a game on its own, and so each example that he goes through and the more experience that he gets, he'll continue to learn from that.”

Or will he? Again, watching examples on a screen is far different from being out there in real time, with only a split second to decide whether to go for it or give yourself up.

Kafka, for his part, didn’t want to attach specific guidelines based on down-and-distance, field position, and so forth as criteria for Dart to use as a basis.

He understandably doesn’t want to strip away Dart’s aggressiveness, which, while risky, has been a benefit to the offense: 23.1% of the rushing yardage gained through 11 games has come courtesy of Dart.

Perhaps the hope moving forward is that the rest of the Giants' running game, which has picked up the pace in the last few weeks, will alleviate the need to run Dart, whose 57 rushing attempts are the fifth-most among quarterbacks this season.

Kafka, as the team’s playcaller and now principal architect of the weekly offensive game plan, said that it would all depend on the opponent and what worked best in terms of strategy.

“I think from the quarterback position, there will be some opportunities, and he did in this last game in Chicago,” he said, noting that the game is violent and aggressive to begin with.

“He slid two or three times and did a nice job in the open field, so I'm not necessarily going to go over the top with it. I think he's a smart player, understands it, and gets it. But when he gets his opportunities, we're going to ask him to cut it loose and play ball and go ball out there for us.”

That all stems from a desire not to strip Dart of those qualities the team initially fell in love with while scouting the kid.

“With a player like this, you don't want to put him in a box, and you don't want to put a bunch of parameters on him. You want him to go play free, play confidently, and play the game that he's been playing his entire life,” Kafka said.

“There are going to be opportunities for him to go ahead and get down, and I trust that he's going to make the smart choice. There are going to be opportunities where he's got to go get a first down, and I trust that he's going to go make the right choice.”

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