Under John Harbaugh, the New York Giants are looking to change some of the many issues that haven't worked for them in previous seasons. The trenches, namely the offensive line, have been a major issue as of late, and Harbs has already done more to rectify that than Brian Daboll ever did.
But his real plan is to turn the Giants into one of the most difficult teams to face on any given Sunday. Physical in the run game, can beat you through the air, and an uber-talented defense. That's the MO he won a Super Bowl with in Baltimore, and the same blueprint Tom Coughlin had success with.
And in his hopes of turning this team around, the 63-year-old made it clear that that starts on the offensive side of the ball. And while addressing the media during the Giants' town hall on Monday night, he shed some light on what specfic areas he hopes this offense will turn things around.
“I don’t want to be at the mercy of the (opposing) defense," Harbaugh said. "We’ve got to make them decide if it’s run or pass.” They want to live in “all those different worlds” on first and second down."
John Harbaugh wants the Giants' offense to be as unpredictable as possible
Rather than adjusting to what defenses will throw at them, Harbaugh wants to force defenses to adjust to the Giants. They have Matt Nagy and Brian Callahan scheming up the passing game while Greg Roman will handle the run game, so they have seasoned assistants calling plays for a strong supporting cast.
New York can lean on Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy, and the mobility of Jaxson Dart in the run game, and Malik Nabers (once he returns), Theo Johnson, Isaiah Likely, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin, Malachi Fields, Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, and both backs as contributors in the passing game.
That sounds like a pick-your-poison situation to me, especially with who's calling the plays. Big Blue has the talent to be one of the better offenses in the NFL, and Dart should take a Year 2 leap even if you aren't very sold on Nagy and Callahan to work with the talent the G-Men have at their disposal.
Basically, Harbs wants to treat this offense like a chameleon that'll change its spots in order to always keep the defense on its toes, which is how to run things. What's the point of running the football 35 times a game each week when you have the personnel for one of the NFL's better spread offenses?
The G-Men had elite weapons at both running back (Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs) and receiver (Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham, and Rueben Randle) during Eli Manning's heyday, so the more Harbaugh follows the SB-winning Coughlin blueprint, the better things will be.
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