Giants QB Jaxson Dart's Talents Remind John Harbaugh of Lamar Jackson's Game

For eight years, New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh had the versatile Lamar Jackson as his quarterback with the Ravens, Jackson’s multi-talented game allowing for the Ravens to be versatile on offense and change with the times.

In Giants second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart, Harbaugh sees a lot of the same possibilities given the second-year signal caller’s own versatility.

“Jaxson's capable of doing a lot of things,” Harbaugh said during an interview with The Domonique Foxworth Show.

“He can live in a lot of different worlds, football-wise. He can live in a power-running game, obviously, and a power-running game protects the quarterback because you can hand the ball off and make people defend that and keep them honest. Then, it opens up your play-action passing game.

“But now we can also get in the gun or we can get in the pistol, and we can run RPOs, we can run quarterback-driven runs with Jaxson Dart, a lot of the stuff that we had in Baltimore with Lamar, as well.

“So now if they want to defend the pass, the quick-game pass, you can just hand the ball off to a softer front and give your guards and centers and tackles a chance to double-team defensive linemen off the ball because there's less people in there to get off the double team quicker and you can block people longer.

“So, that all kind of goes together on first and second down to create problems for the defense, and I just feel like it all starts with the quarterback. … So, if he can do it, then we're gonna do it, and that's what we're planning on doing.”

The Giants’ new offensive system as overseen by offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is one that Dart has said is much different than the system he ran as a rookie under Brian Daboll.

There is more responsibility put on the quarterback’s shoulders, for one. There is also a shift to where Dart will be working more under center than he did last season, and a strong likelihood of the power running game being the central focus of the offense rather than a heavier reliance on the passing game, as was the case last year.

Dart Needs to Exercise Sound Judgment When Running the Ball

Dec 28, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) runs with the ball in the first quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dart, who finished third among quarterbacks last season with 487 rushing yards (on 86 carries) behind league leader Josh Allen of the Bills (579 yards) and Justin Herbert of the Chargers (498 yards), has made it challenging for coaches to deploy him as a runner given his aggressiveness that has seen him try to bleed every last yard out of his rushing attempts.

But Harbaugh, Nagy, and quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan have all been trying to get Dart to realize that there is a time and place to go for the gusto.

“I mean, he’s aware of it,” Harbaugh said. “You got a fine line. I remember hearing the same thing about Lamar, and the same things were said about Lamar really every year but especially after the first season: ‘It’s unsustainable the way he plays. It’s never gonna last. You’ve got to protect him. He can’t run as much.’

“You say something like that to Lamar, and he kinda just looks at you like you’ve got three heads. It’s like, ‘No, I’m gonna play ball.’”

Harbaugh understands the need to be aggressive at times, but with Dart, he hopes that the young quarterback makes better decisions when he runs.

“It’s not the type of a sport where you put yourself in bubble wrap. You’re gonna play ball and you’re gonna get tackled and things can happen out there,” Harbaugh said.

“But I do think playing the game in a way that respects that there are other guys out there that are capable of doing damage to you when you have the ball in your hands, especially for the quarterback, is important. I trust that Jaxson Dart understands that.”

Dart, for his part, has said that he will be more careful with his choices made in the heat of the moment, especially after having to miss games for the first time in his career last season.

“The most important thing that I learned is I got to be on the field,” Dart said during the team’s Town Hall event in May.

“But at the same time if it’s third down, fourth down, they're standing my way, I’m gonna go right through them.”

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