Giants.com is counting down the start of training camp with 20 questions in 20 days.

4) What should fans expect from Jaxson Dart in Year 2?

Matt Citak: What the 23-year-old does as an encore from his promising rookie campaign will be an important factor in determining how much success the team has this season. With a new coaching staff in tow, Dart is now learning his second NFL offense in as many seasons. The young signal-caller picked up last year's system rather quickly, and the hope is that he is able to do the same this year.

"I think he's adjusting really well," coach John Harbaugh said about Dart in the new offense during last month's minicamp. "He looks good. I love his competitiveness. He wants to be perfect every play. It's a work in progress all the time. It's still fairly early. But the clock is ticking. In team meeting we started the team meeting off with 'September' by Earth, Wind & Fire. September is right around the corner. So that's what we're preparing for."

Year 2 is always a big one for quarterbacks. Some players make the jump and take their game to the next level, which is what New England's Drake Maye and Chicago's Caleb Williams were able to do last year. Others suffer from the dreaded "sophomore slump" and see their game take a step back. Where Dart lands on this spectrum is the million-dollar question.

When it comes to X's and O's, I think it's fair to assume that we will see Dart do a lot of the things that Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was asked to do in Baltimore the last few years. Both quarterbacks are dual threats, which helps to open things up for the offense as a whole.

"Jaxson's capable of doing a lot of things," Harbaugh said recently on The Domonique Foxworth Show. "Like he can live in a lot of different worlds, football-wise. He can live in a power-running game, obviously, and a power-running game protects the quarterback because you can hand the ball off and make people defend that and keep them honest. Then, it opens up your play-action passing game. … That stuff, we're going to be in those worlds.

"But now we can also get in the gun or we can get in the pistol, and we can run RPOs, we can run quarterback-driven runs with Jaxson Dart, a lot of the stuff that we had in Baltimore with Lamar, as well. That's passes that are almost run reads. So now if they want to defend the pass, the quick-game pass, you can just hand the ball off to a softer front and give your guards and centers and tackles a chance to double-team defensive linemen off the ball because there's less people in there to get off the double team quicker and you can block people longer. So, that all kind of goes together on first and second down to create problems for the defense, and I just feel like it all starts with the quarterback. Jaxson is a guy that does give you a chance to live in all those different worlds. So, if he can do it, then we're going to do it, and that's what we're planning on doing."

Dart averaged 5.8 yards per carry during his rookie campaign while totaling 487 yards and a team-leading nine touchdowns on the ground. His rushing production added another element to the Giants' offense, but it also led to the young quarterback taking a lot of hits. His new head coach is confident the second-year quarterback will make better decisions this season in order to ensure that he's out there with his teammates as much as possible.

"I mean, he's aware of it," Harbaugh said in the same ESPN interview on the significance of Dart staying healthy. "You got a fine line. I remember hearing the same thing about Lamar, and the same things were said about Lamar really every year but especially after the first season. 'It's unsustainable the way he plays. It's never going to last. You've got to protect him. He can't run as much.' You say something like that to Lamar, and he kind of just looks at you like you've got three heads. It's like, 'No, I'm going to play ball, I'm going to play ball.' I just knew, I trusted that he was going to protect himself because he wants to be out there and he wants to play and it's not the type of a sport where you [can] put yourself in bubble wrap. You're going to play ball and you're going to get tackled and things can happen out there.

"But I do think playing the game in a way that respects that there are other guys out there that are capable of doing damage to you when you have the ball in your hands, especially for the quarterback, is important. I trust that Jaxson Dart understands that."

Previous Questions

20) What was the biggest story of the offseason?

19) Who are the veteran additions to know?

18) Who are the rookies to know this season?

17) How tough is the Giants' schedule this season?

16) What will the new offense look like?

15) What will the new defense look like?

14) What is going on at kicker?

13) What are the injury statuses to know heading into camp?

12) What is the biggest question for the 2026 Giants?

11) What are the competitions to watch on offense?

10) What are the competitions to watch on defense?

9) Why is training camp in West Virginia?

8) Who will be the leaders in the locker room?

7) Who are some breakout candidates to watch?

6) What is the state of the NFC East?

5) What are statistical milestones within reach in 2026?