Giants OC: Team targeted QB Jaxson Dart ‘relatively early’

Before the New York Giants’ organized team activity session Thursday ended abruptly with a fight, the team’s trio of quarterbacks cycled through their reps and a pecking order began to take shape.
Russell Wilson practiced with the team’s projected starters, but rookie Jaxson Dart took over for him for one rep with the ones and spent the rest of the day with the twos. Jameis Winston practiced for the third-teamers, other than for one rep with the twos.
Wilson praised Dart Thursday while dodging a question about what it will mean to have a first-round pick working behind him. Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka revealed that New York zeroed in on the former Ole Miss quarterback “relatively early” in the draft evaluation process.
“I would say it was relatively early just because you get — the more touchpoints you have with him, the more confidence you get and the more you see him fitting into your system and your scheme,” Kafka said.
“And so I felt really confident about how he operated, how he studied, how he prepared, how he handled himself. And then at the end of the day, his tape and the way he performed in those meetings.”
While the Giants were seen as a possibility to take Shedeur Sanders with the No. 3 overall pick, they instead fell in love with Dart and traded back into the first round (No. 25 overall) to make him the second QB selected behind first overall pick Cam Ward.
“You watch the explosive plays, you watch how he operates in the two-minute drills and under pressure, under duress,” Kafka said. “You see some of the off-schedule, off-platform plays he has and you kind of watch that together and put together a report.
“Those are things that stood out to me. His ability to kind of play within the pocket, play outside the pocket, QB run game, things like that.”
Kafka is known for having worked with Patrick Mahomes early in his Kansas City Chiefs career. There, Kafka was the quarterbacks coach; in New York, he’s the offensive coordinator, but he’ll be plenty involved with Dart’s development all the same.
“Just being the quarterback coach, you’re in that room with them. You’re coaching them just on the specific job of the quarterback, versus the offensive coordinator putting the whole picture together for the Qs,” Kafka explained. “Being in those meetings with the quarterbacks and explaining my intent for a play or my vision for what that play could be or what the offense could look like and how we’re going to attack certain things, just being out in front of that with the quarterbacks is always good information.”
Kafka also praised Wilson for his “leadership” and “command” at his previous stops in Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh, though the latter two chapters of his career were nowhere near as fruitful as his time with the Seahawks.
“You see the competitiveness that he brings, the demeanor that he brings,” Kafka said. “… It’s a new offense for him and he’s played a lot of football, so a lot of these plays are similar to what he knows. Just getting him on the same page terminology-wise. But he’s doing a great job and I’m excited to have him.”
When asked, Wilson did not offer up his reaction to the Giants trading up for Dart in April, not long after they signed both him and Winston.
“Yeah, Jaxson’s been great, man. He’s a great worker, great teammate,” Wilson said. “We’re having fun, all of us. We have a really good quarterback room. Guys are so focused and working diligently every day. He’s going to be an extremely, extremely good talent and everything else throughout his career.”
The former Super Bowl champion said Dart being the QB2 “doesn’t change anything at all” for him.
“I think the biggest thing is for me is just being my best every day, leading,” Wilson said. “I always think about just leading everybody, just leading every room, every moment, every time I get to step between the white lines and the opportunity of that.
“We had a great dinner the other night, all the guys, all the O-line and quarterbacks and running backs together. We just had a good time, just tons of laughs and a good time together. So just I think the fellowship of it all is the best part right now. Obviously, our work ethic and what we’re doing in the field. But when it comes to just the tight-knit culture that we’re continuing to build and continue to grow, and we want to have a championship football team, and in terms of our mentality and our approach and how we go about it.”