Phil Simms is all-in on the New York Giants’ decision to start rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart at quarterback instead of veteran Russell Wilson.
“Did they have to play him [Dart] this week? Yes. They had to,” Simms told Adam Schein this week on Sirius XM Radio. “I’m sitting at home watching the Kansas City game, I see all the empty seats. … Owners can do a couple things. They can count to 11. I learned this from Bill Parcells. In other words, you better have 11 people on the field at all times and don’t have nine or 10 [and] have to call a time out because that. But they know empty seats too. And you gotta listen to the public sometimes. When they don’t show up that’s a big deal.”
The Giants’ Sunday Night Football home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3 saw MetLife Stadium filled with a large contingent of Kansas City Chiefs fans, many of whom had likely gotten their tickets on the secondary market from Giants fans who chose not to attend.
“I was around a lot of owners doing games all the years. But I would say the Maras are right there, they’d be tied with some other ones that, number one, they care so much about the fans,” Simms said. “It’s one of the first things that comes outta their mouth when they talk about their football team.”
Simms, drafted seventh overall by the Giants in 1979, did not start until Week 5 of his rookie season. He said it was “nuts” to believe Dart should redshirt as a rookie.
“I hear all the people talking… ‘Well, they need to sit him for the whole year. He shouldn’t play until week 10.’ That is nuts,” Simms told Schein. “I thought Jaxson Dart would sit on the sidelines for maybe four or five games. You stand over there, Adam, I was one of these guys. I was just a fan the first game or two, like, ‘yeah, this is pretty cool,’ being on the sideline and watching the game. And then week three, I remember looking out there going, ‘you know, I can do this.’ And then by week four you’re like, ‘shoot, when are they gonna play me?’ And I’m sure Jaxson Dart is kind of in that same mold. “
Simms expects the offense to look different with Dart than it did with Wilson.
“This offense is not gonna look the same. It’s gonna be a big difference,” Simms said. “It’s gonna have energy. They’re gonna call plays and you’re gonna go, wow, I didn’t expect that. I mean, that’s what I think will happen.”
Simms is a believer in Dart.
“First off, I saw him at training camp quite a few days. He is a big dude. He can run. That was the one thing that finally probably swayed me on him before the draft. I just kept watching him. And I knew the Giants really liked him. Brian Daboll, this was his guy. He got his guy,” Simms said. “And at training camp, I saw him have the first day, I went, ‘Ooh no, he did not have a good day today.’ But every time after that, he wasn’t good, he was like really good every day. Threw it awesome, good decisions, everything like that.
“He’s sneaky really good running the football. … I’ve underrated his ability to run up the middle and to gain yards and get it fast. And the other thing is he’s a big dude, man. He’s big, thick, he can take punishment and he can deliver it, too. So I’m excited for the Giants. They did the right thing making this decision.”
We are about to find out if Simms, and Daboll, are right.
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