New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart is the current flavor of the month when it comes to rookie QBs, and the Denver Broncos defense is doubtless busy watching his tape. Dart’s recent development has been a subject of interest around the league for weeks now, and Ted Nguyen recently did a film breakdown for The Athletic, so let’s go there and see what his efforts revealed about Dart. 

Dart’s fearlessness and athleticism were already known quantities when he was drafted, so it’s not exactly front-page news that he showed off both traits in his first two starts against the Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints. 

What was new, though, was his ability to control the line of scrimmage. Nguyen noted that Dart used a hard count in the third quarter of the Giants’ recent win against the Philadelphia Eagles to get Philly to jump offside, which is noteworthy because he came from a college offense at Ole Miss that used a clap cadence. 

He’s also starting to recognize hot routes, and Dart did this, too, against the Eagles. On one particular play, Giants center John Michael-Schmitz Jr. adjusted the protection by sliding the line to the right, and Dart hit a timing throw to receiver Lil-Jordan Humphrey without missing a beat to pick up a first down. 

Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka uses a sophisticated pre-snap system, so all of this is good news for the G-Men. Playing in Denver can be a house of horrors for a rookie quarterback, so he’ll need all the prescience he can get coming into this one. 

Where Dart sometimes falls short is that he sometimes thinks he’s a running back when he escapes from the pocket, and as a result he has a tendency to take big hits. That’s bad news against the Broncos linebacking corps, which has the speed to chase down Dart before he realizes that he’s putting himself in danger. 

Blitz recognition will also be an issue that Denver will try to use to good advantage. The Broncos linebackers come at quarterbacks had and fast from multiple angles, and once again Dart will be seeing things that look like they’ve been sped up to fast forward. 

The Giants have their own set of pass rushers who will challenge Denver quarterback Bo Nix, so recognition will be a two-way street in this one. Giants coach Brian Daboll has been on the hot seat for what seems like forever now, and if the Broncos can get their usual five sacks per game against New York, expect the temperature of that seat to go up by more than a couple of degrees.