Big Blue View
The next 10 games have to be Brian Daboll’s final audition for whether or not he is the right head coach to maximize the Jaxson Dart Era.
Dart has only started four NFL games, but it certainly looks like the Giants have found the quarterback they can build around for the foreseeable future.
Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio certainly thinks so.
“The teams that need quarterbacks that bypassed him, they’re gonna regret that,‘ Fangio said this week.
Daboll was, of course, a major part of the decision to select Dart. He was, in fact, probably the strongest voice in the room that convinced GM Joe Schoen to trade up from No. 34 in Round 2 to No. 25 in Round 1 to select the player they hope will be their answer at quarterback for the next decade or more.
Daboll is considered an outstanding judge of quarterback talent and an excellent mentor for young quarterbacks. Say that Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills has improved since Daboll was hired away from the Bills by the Giants if you want. You would be right. Daboll, though, still has to receive credit for getting a quarterback with accuracy and decision-making issues off to a good NFL start.
Having tried and failed to build on the success Daboll and the Giants had with Daniel Jones in 2022, one of the rationalizations for keeping Daboll as head coach was that he deserved the chance to find and develop his own quarterback from scratch.
It has been clear all along that Daboll believes in Dart. On the flip side, the young quarterback feels a connection to the head coach
“Me and Dabs just have a special relationship,” Dart said after the Giants defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in Dart’s first NFL start. “He’s the guy that believed in me from day one … I know that when you have a coach who you know has your back, I’m going to go out there and do everything I can for him to win.”
Dianna Russini of The Athletic wrote recently that people around the league keep telling her “Daboll finally has his guy.”
Having the right coach/quarterback combination is critical to long-term success for an NFL team. Daboll and Dart clearly form a good partnership.
Thing is, Daboll isn’t the quarterback coach. He isn’t the offensive coordinator. He is the face and the voice of the organization, and the leader of the entire football team.
Coaches tell us all the time that professional sports in a performance business. The performance tells us that the body of work has not been good enough:
Beyond the raw numbers, you can argue that the Giants too often play with a lack of discipline. They too often have game day roster management decisions come back...
