How Will John Harbaugh Impact Jaxson Dart After Coaching Lamar Jackson amid Giants Contract Rumors?

After 18 seasons as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh is reportedly nearing an agreement to become head coach of the New York Giants, taking him from coaching an established quarterback in Lamar Jackson to a relatively inexperienced one in Jaxson Dart.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Wednesday night that Harbaugh and the Giants were finalizing a deal, and while it wasn't done yet, the expectation was that he would be the next head man in New York.

Per ESPN's Jordan Raanan, Harbaugh was rumored to value a strong quarterback situation when deciding where he would coach next, which speaks to how highly he regards Dart.

Jackson had a ton of success under Harbaugh in Baltimore, winning a pair of NFL MVP awards, perhaps making Harbaugh the ideal fit to work with a young, developing signal-caller like Dart.

As pointed out by Raanan, Dart thrives when he plays "off platform," which is similar to Jackson, meaning Harbaugh is well aware of the positives and negatives attached to coaching that type of quarterback.

As a coach, Harbaugh primarily has a special teams background, so his offensive coordinator hire will be significant when it comes to Dart's development, but his experience promises to be invaluable regardless.

Under Harbaugh, Jackson took over as the Ravens' starting quarterback during the second half of his rookie year, and he provided a huge spark that helped push Baltimore into the playoffs.

By Year 2, Jackson was already among the best players in the NFL, as he won his first NFL MVP Award by virtue of accounting for 43 touchdowns and throwing just six interceptions.

Such a huge leap forward for Dart next season would be unexpected, but he showed during his rookie campaign that he has the tools to be a successful NFL quarterback.

Although the 2025 first-round pick out of Ole Miss was only 4-8 as a starter this season, he put up strong numbers by completing 63.7 percent of his passes for 2,272 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for 487 yards and nine scores.

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One of the hallmarks of Harbaugh's Ravens teams, especially during Jackson's tenure as the starting quarterback, was the success of his rushing offense.

From Jackson's rookie season in 2018 through 2025, the Ravens never ranked worse than third in the NFL in rushing yardage in a season, and they led the league four times.

Jackson's mobility had plenty to do with it, but Harbaugh also committed heavily to feeding his running backs such as Derrick Henry, Gus Edwards, Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins.

The Giants ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing this season thanks to the combination of Dart and running backs Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary.

It is fair to expect that to be an even bigger part of the offense next season, and if that is the case, it will only help Dart and open things up for him in the passing game.