What do we make of New York Giants' offseason so far? 'Whole organization going through a refresher'
· Yahoo Sports
On this week’s episode of “Football 301,” Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice, Charles McDonald and Matt Harmon broke down the offseason plans of six different franchises, including one of the buzziest in the NFL — the New York Giants.
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The Giants hired John Harbaugh in January after firing former head coach Brian Daboll midseason. He’s reportedly got significant power in the organization, perhaps even more than returning general manager Joe Schoen. The front office and coaching staff have also seen significant overhaul after the Giants missed the playoffs for the 12th time in 14 seasons, their longest stretch of sustained struggles in nearly half a century.
“A lot of guys that have been there for 30, 35 years all of a sudden getting rehomed when Harbaugh got in there,” Tice said. “So the whole Giants organization going through a refresher.”
Matt Nagy is the new offensive coordinator. Dennard Wilson is the new defensive coordinator. Dawn Aponte is the senior vice president of football operations and strategy, after nearly a decade of high-ranking work at the league office.
While McDonald is supportive of the Harbaugh hire, he does have questions about the offensive staff, which includes names like Brian Callahan, Willie Taggart and Greg Roman.
“The offensive staff is. It is what it is. Those guys are signed,” he said.
The 301 crew already likes, however, the professionalism Harbaugh has brought to the job. For instance, when star wide receiver Malik Nabers publicly questioned the Giants’ selection of Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese fifth overall in the NFL Draft, Harbaugh downplayed the incident in assured fashion.
“He even said, ‘You're going to find here we don't worry about that kind of stuff,’” Harmon said. “And that's something that would have been three media cycles’ worth of something in a previous Giants organization. The internet's got a bunch of opinions about it. Who cares? Like yeah, even Harbaugh’s like, ‘I like him asking questions. I like him asking how is he going to be used. He's invested with the team.’”
The biggest moves the Giants have made player-wise this offseason include trading star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th overall pick in the draft, which they used on Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa. The Giants were one of just four teams whose draft class received an “A” grade from Tice and McDonald.
Tice in particular is a fan of what the Giants’ run game could be, given their personnel.
“I like their first steps that they're doing and and trying to solidify everything,” he said. “Their run game can maybe really cook this year. I mean the whole line last year was legit very good.”
Still, Tice and McDonald raised questions about second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart, and want to see what he looks like under Nagy and Harbaugh’s offense and coaching.
“You’ve got a start here, but still a long way to go before I think you can call this a full-on success,” McDonald said. “Because we’ve got to see Jackson Dart protect himself in a new system. We’ve got to see Cam Skattebo and Nabers and what that looks like. So it's a start. It's a framework.”