Typically, hearing that a rebuilding team like the New York Giants hired a Super Bowl-winning offensive coordinator in Matt Nagy is cause for celebration — or, at the very least, optimism.
Tell that to The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen, who isn’t at all impressed with John Harbaugh and the Giants hiring Nagy to run the offense.
In a story published Wednesday analyzing 12 quarterbacks and their fit with new offensive coordinators and play-callers, Nguyen expressed doubt about the Kansas City model translating well for Jaxson Dart and the Giants.
“Kansas City’s offensive system has grown stale,” Nguyen wrote. “The Chiefs’ insistence on staying in shotgun and relying on pass-heavy scripts plays right into the defensive trend of playing light boxes and two-deep defenses. When they did run the ball, they just ran the same run/pass option (RPO) plays over and over.”
Although Nagy and Harbaugh are both longtime Andy Reid assistants, they have never worked together.
Todd Monken, who served as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator the last three seasons, did not follow Harbaugh to New York. Monken instead earned the Browns’ head coaching job.
“Ideally, Nagy will run a more multiple offense for Dart and not just try to install the Chiefs offense in New York,” Nguyen wrote.
Giants fans shouldn’t panic over the initial Matt Nagy concerns
Nguyen also referred to Nagy as a “failure as a head coach” following his four years in Chicago.
Never mind that the Bears reached the playoffs twice and had three non-losing records in that stretch, their most successful period since firing Lovie Smith after the 2012 season.
Granted, the Bears had a bottom-10 offense in Nagy’s final three years, but “failure” feels too harsh.
As for what went wrong in Kansas City, there is no arguing that the Chiefs' offense declined in recent years. They finished 21st in points and 20th in yards last year, scoring their fewest points since 2014.
A Chiefs offense which regularly averaged over 450 points throughout the Mahomes era didn't even surpass 400 either of the last two years.
As the offensive coordinator, part of that obviously falls on Nagy. Seemingly creating the impression that he’s responsible for most, if not all, of their struggles is also incredibly unfair.
The Chiefs have failed to develop a consistent No. 1 wide receiver since trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in 2022. Although Rashee Rice has flashed, his various legal incidents have regularly kept him off the field.
The lack of impactful receivers — which is more so on Reid and Brett Veach — led to the Chiefs becoming overly reliant on Travis Kelce. Running back Isiah Pacheco struggled with injuries and didn’t earn a second contract.
With that said, neither Dart nor Giants fans should be overly concerned by Nguyen’s commentary.
The Giants made upgrading the offensive line a priority, and they brought tight end Isaiah Likely over from Baltimore to ideally become Dart’s safety blanket. Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. could be a formative 1-2 punch in the backfield.
There would be a far greater cause for cynicism if Nagy inherited Brian Daboll’s 2025 offense, whether Dart or Russell Wilson was his starting quarterback.
Instead, Nagy gets a retooled Giants offense featuring multiple dynamic young players and others who are extremely familiar with both the head coach and Harbaugh’s assistants.
So, no, don’t wave the white flag on Nagy just yet. Especially not if the Giants unleash Likely the way Harbaugh never had the chance to in Baltimore.
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