Jordan Palmer, QB coach for Josh Allen, says Giants are “a great fit” for Dart
Quarterback coach Jordan Palmer has never worked with or met Jaxson Dart. Palmer and I had never met, either. When I reached out to Palmer’s reps about having him on my podcast to talk about Dart and quarterback development, though, Palmer couldn’t wait to make it happen.
“I’m happy to talk about him because I’ve got a lot of good things to say,” Palmer told me. “If I didn’t have anything good to say I wouldn’t have said anything at all.
“I don’t do a ton of interviews but when this was set up I was like ‘I’d love to talk about Jaxson Dart.’ I literally don’t know him. I’ve watched almost every snap he’s played, I know everybody who trains him, guys who played with him. I have two clients who backed him up last year. I got to know a lot about this kid.”
Palmer’s list of quarterback clients includes Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Sam Darnold, Bo Nix and Josh Allen. His work with Allen, of course, makes him intimately familiar with Giants head coach Brian Daboll works with quarterbacks.
“I genuinely feel like it’s a great fit,” Palmer said. “I’ve got a couple buddies that are diehard Giants fans. You guys should have something to be excited about right now, for sure.”
Palmer has referred to Allen as “the best athlete to ever play that position” of quarterback. So, let’s dispense with the idea that Daboll can or will turn Dart into Allen. That is not realistic.
Palmer, though, does believe Dart is in good hands.
“I really like this marriage between Jaxson and Brian Daboll and his staff because I do see a lot of things in Jaxson’s game,” Palmer said. “I don’t work with Jaxson, but I certainly look at the game differently. I break down every single guy in the draft. I do my own draft grades.
“I’ve been right a lot more than I’ve been wrong, and I was really high on Jaxson.”
Analysts like Todd McShay of The Ringer and Dan Orlovsky of ESPN have been singing Daboll’s praises recently as a quarterback coach and evaluator.
Here is Orlovsky speaking to John Schmeelk on a recent ‘Giants Huddle’ podcast:
“I’ve been very outspoken. I believe that if you’re the Giants you want Brian Daboll to coach this young man. I just believe that that is the ideal situation for these guys, and so you want to make sure that results allow that to continue to happen.”
Palmer, with knowledge of Daboll through their work helping Allen become one of the best quarterbacks in the game, feels similarly.
“What I really like about this marriage is that I’ve seen in my work with Josh Allen Brian Daboll’s ability to teach,” Palmer said. “Now, Giants fans have their opinion on Brian, whatever it is, and it’s largely tied to win-loss record.
“What doesn’t get seen is his ability to teach. I’m a quarterback coach, but at the end of the day I’m a teacher. I’ve seen Brian Daboll be one of, honestly if not the best at teaching the game.
“I don’t mean installing the offense and explaining what we want on this play. I mean teaching the game, the situational side of it. When to be aggressive, when not, and just meet guys where they’re at. I’ve seen it with Josh, I’ve seen it with other guys.”
Palmer said that while things have been a struggle for the Giants the last couple of seasons, he has been anxious to see what would happen when Daboll finally got a rookie quarterback he could mold.
“I just kind of have felt for a couple years that I can’t wait until Brian can get his guy that he picked, that he brought in,” Palmer said. “I can’t wait until he can come in and start from scratch with somebody and just teach, because I think he’s one of the best teachers in the game.”
The honeymoon phase?
Call it the honeymoon phase if you want to, but the night he was drafted by the Giants, Dart said of Daboll that “This is a coach that I want to be coached by.”
And Daboll is coaching him. Hard. And constantly. On the field during rookie minicamp, Daboll was constantly talking to the rookie quarterback.
“He coaches me up like every second I’m around him,” Dart said. “He’s the guy that will walk in a room, say goodbye and whatnot, and then he’ll come back 30 seconds later because he has an idea.
“So, he’s constantly coaching me, and I think that’s what I want be around. I want be coached the hardest, and I feel like that’s going help me excel at the highest level and help me reach my potential. So, there’s not another coach I’d rather be playing for.”
I mentioned to Palmer that Daboll and the Giants drafting Dart feels like a restart for a franchise that has been adrift the last couple of seasons.
“With Jaxson regardless of when he becomes the starter, whether that’s Week 1 or Year 2 and anything in-between I’m a big Brian Daboll fan and, yeah, this really does feel like a really good rese,t” Palmer said.
The quarterback room
Like Matt Waldman of The Rookie Scouting Portfolio, Palmer believes Dart will benefit not only from the coaching of Daboll, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney, but from being around veteran quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
“Russell Wilson’s a lot of things, but two things come to mind when I think of Russell,” Palmer said. “One, he’s a winner. In a world of stats I don’t care about he’s got a relevant stat. His first eight years in the NFL he won more games than anybody. How often do you win? That’s a good one.”
The second thing?
“The second thing about Russell Wilson that’s just true whether you like him or not is he is a pro,” Palmer said. “He approaches his offseason, his body, his mental and emotional state, his throwing mechanics. He’s all-in all the time.
“Jaxson’s going to be in the room with Brian Daboll and a guy who’s a winner and conducts himself at an elite professional level.”
Palmer has known Giants’ backup quarterback Jameis Winston since high school and says he is “unapologetically himself at all times.”
“He’s goofy and he’s silly and he’s super funny,” Palmer said of Winston. “Here’s somebody who’s unapologetically themselves — that takes a lot of confidence. That can be inferred as a bad thing — that’s not a bad thing.
“In terms of teaching I think it’s a great class with great professors in the room. Russell’s a selfless guy, I know he helps young guys. Jameis as well. I just think it’s fertile ground that Jaxson stepped foot in.”
When should Dart play?
Palmer wasn’t going speculate. He did, though, say there are three criteria any young quarterback needs to meet to get on the field.
Understanding
“I think they’ve got to have enough enough of an understanding around the offense they’re running, you’re not going to know everything but enough of an understanding of what we’re trying to do on each play, how we’re going to block it up, where we’re going with the ball and a good enough understanding of what they’re doing on defense to be able to go through my progressions,” Palmer said. “If a quarterback is dropping back and going “Wait which side’s the dig on?” you can be mad at him for not knowing that but don’t put him out there.”
Mobility
“They’ve got to be mobile enough to get themselves out of bad situations,” Palmer said. “That does not mean they have to run a certain 40 time. Maybe it’s movement in the pocket. Maybe it’s buying time leaving the pocket, but they’ve got to be able to get themselves out of a bad situation.”
Handling the bright lights?
Is the quarterback ready to handle everything that comes with the job? The importance of that is magnified in a market like New York.
“The media, New York, how important everything is. You throw a duck in practice, now it’s going viral on the Internet. You’ve got to deal with that,” Palmer said. “It’s all of that. I’m oversimplifying saying “are the lights too bright?” Sometimes a guy’s gotta sit in this for a year … maybe they need a month or two, maybe they need a year, and maybe they don’t need any time at all.”
A message for Giants fans
As I was beginning to wrap up the show, Palmer asked if he could “give a piece of advice” to Giants fans who aren’t enamored with the decision to trade up and select Dart.
“I hear these stories all the time, from being around Buffalo … there are Bills Mafia fans out there, I know a couple by name, that hated the Josh Allen pick and were real vocal about it. For the rest of their lives they’re held accountable for something they said back in 2017 because they thought the kid from Wyoming wasn’t going to be any good,” Palmer said.
“So, this is advice to Giants fans who don’t like the pick. I would exercise the right to remain silent and not be vocal about how terrible Jaxson Dart’s going to be because I know enough Giants and Jets fans to know that if your buddy does something stupid you’re going to hear about it for the rest of your life …
“I think he’s gonna be good.”
Give the full show a listen
You may think this post is lengthy, but it could have been far longer. There is a lot more from my conversation with Palmer in the full show. Click the player below to watch.
