Big Blue View
The New York Giants want to believe their head-coaching opening is a desirable one that any top candidate in the upcoming hiring cycle will have interest in.
Remember what GM Joe Schoen, who may or may not keep his job, said a few weeks ago? He said that head coach of the Giants “will be an attractive job for many coaches,” and that “The calls we’ve gotten, I think we’re going to be able to fill the job.”
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell doesn’t seem convinced that candidates will be lining up for the job quite the way the Giants envision. In a post ranking the eight jobs he thinks “might” come open at season’s end, Barnwell ranked the Giants’ vacancy No. 5. His list:
Now, let’s dissect some of Barnwell’s reasons for putting the Giants firmly in the middle of his list.
Barnwell writes:
Coaches were expected to be thrilled at the possibility of working with Jaxson Dart, who got off to a promising start during his rookie season. Dart wasn’t winning many games, but his competitiveness, mobility and big-play ability made him an immediate fan favorite alongside fellow rookie Cam Skattebo, who was lost for the year with a serious ankle injury.
But Dart’s inability to avoid big hits and injuries is quickly becoming concerning. Sunday was the fifth time in 10 starts that he has been forced to leave the game to undergo a concussion evaluation, and he missed losses to the Packers and Lions. Kafka has taken the designed quarterback runs that the Giants leaned on early in Dart’s tenure out of the playbook. Removing scrambles, sneaks and kneel-downs from the equation, Dart had 24 designed runs in his seven starts before his concussion, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That has dropped to three over the two starts he has made since missing time.
Without his role in the quarterback run game, it’s unclear whether Dart is really as promising of a quarterback as he might have seemed.
Valentine’s View:
What, precisely, has Dart done wrong in the two games he has played since returning from his concussion that would make his stock drop in the eyes of potential coaching candidates?
Dart has completed 37 of 60 passes (61.7%) with three touchdowns and an interception in losses to the Patriots and Commanders. Is it Dart’s fault Jalin Hyatt can’t run a proper in-cut? Or that Darius Slayton dropped a touchdown pass he had both hands on? Or that the Giants can’t make a field goal? Or tackle a punt returner?
If anything, in my eyes Dart is showing that he can play quarterback without also having to play running back.
I don’t know what sort of NFL quarterback Dart will turn out to be. I do know that NFL Draft analysts are already saying he would be the No....
