Sometimes, all it takes is one player to change the vibes and optimism inside a building, and for the New York Giants, that early spark might just be Jaxson Dart.
In his first interactions with new head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Dart showed something teams crave but rarely get right away.
Jaxson Dart Turns Heads Early As Giants Coaches Praise Young QB
Harbaugh and Nagy discussed their first impressions of Dart on Day 1 of offseason workouts. Both coaches praised the quarterback, with Harbaugh calling his first impression “awesome” as he begins learning the offense.
“Today was the first day for football, the first day we had a chance to talk football,” Harbaugh said. “What I witnessed was the first install, which is just the very first example of how we’re going to build the offense. That’s what was put in today. I saw that put in.
“I saw him reacting to it, interacting. I asked him what he thought about it. Seemed excited. Just kind of dipping our toe in the water today with that. But it was fun to see offense up on the screen and Jaxson right there taking his notes. That was awesome. It was a good start…
“He had a new pen for his notepad. You guys are old school, you’re like me, you have the three-ring spiral notebooks with the actual pen. I actually have an erasable pen. He has one that writes on the iPad that you can log and everything. But he was opening it up. It was all foreign to me. I didn’t know what it was.”
Coach Harbaugh added that the team is still just easing into things, but even that first step stood out.
And then comes former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Nagy’s reaction, who noted that he has been impressed with Dart for a while now.
“[Last season], I remember coming away really impressed with Jaxson and his accuracy. Back then, a year ago or two years ago, I didn’t know how tough he was and how good of a runner he was. He was a really good, sneaky good runner, tough, physical, played the quarterback position well, accurate. You could see he was a competitor.
“I remember then at the Combine, us not really being in the quarterback market, watching him, just kind of observing how he handled himself in that group of guys at the combine. You could see this moxie that he had, and he had this ‘it’ factor. When I got here to New York and got to meet him and started talking to him, you could tell right away that everything was true.
“This kid is different that way. My initial conversation with Coach Harbs was, ‘Hey, excited, really looking forward to being able to help out in many ways and building that relationship and that trust.’ I know he had a great year last year, but we want to make it even better and continue to have him grow, and I want to be there to help him.”
Dart enters 2026 looking to build on his impressive rookie campaign. In 2025, Dart started 12 of 14 games and threw for 15 TDs to just 5 INTs, while also rushing for 487 yards and 9 TDs. He was 18th-best quarterback in PFSN’s QB Impact metric.
His job is to run the offense with full command and make correct decisions. He must improve consistency, limit turnovers, and stay healthy. Dart is also expected to lead the locker room and execute the system effectively, and his performance will determine the team’s direction.
