What Can We Expect From John Harbaugh’s New York Giants?
Updated September 7, 2026
Updated September 7, 2026
For most of the past decade, the New York Giants have been searching for an identity, John Harbaugh has needed only a few months to make his preferred one fairly obvious.
The former Baltimore Ravens head coach has brought longer, more demanding practices, a renewed emphasis on physicality and a coaching staff built around experience. On offense, there are already signs of a heavier running game and more snaps from under center. On defense, new coordinator Dennard Wilson has been showing an aggressive front built to attack rather than react.
It is still August, and the Giants have played precisely one preseason game under Harbaugh, a 13-10 loss to Minnesota on August 15, so sweeping conclusions would be premature. But there is already enough evidence to understand what New York is trying to become. What's more, Harbaugh has inherited some exciting young pieces to build around as the Giants look to rebuild a franchise that has done little more than define mediocrity for the best part of two decades.
Baltimore changed offensive coordinators, quarterbacks and supporting casts repeatedly during Harbaugh's 18 seasons, but certain principles rarely disappeared. His best teams could run the football, defend aggressively and win the less glamorous parts of games. After all, Harbaugh was a Special Teams coordinator before his long and successful tenure in Baltimore.
New York's offseason looks remarkably consistent with that philosophy. Harbaugh hired former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy to run the offense, Dennard Wilson to oversee the defense and former Ravens special teams coordinator Chris Horton as both special teams coordinator and assistant head coach.
The Giants have since spent training camp increasing the intensity. Practices have been described as longer, faster and more demanding than under previous regimes, with players publicly buying into the change. This is critical for a franchise that does not simply need a better playbook, but also consistency.
The first preseason game offered a glimpse of the intended style. New York used more under-center formations, leaned on the running game and played aggressive defense. Wilson showed pressure packages and a more attacking 4-3 structure, while rookie linebacker Arvell Reese and second-year edge Abdul Carter both flashed.
The finished product will obviously be much more sophisticated than an August preseason game, but Harbaugh's fingerprints are already visible.
Perhaps Harbaugh's most important task is developing Jaxson Dart. Dart gave New York plenty of reason for optimism as a rookie. The danger now would be constructing an offense that asks him to do everything.
Instead, Nagy's early installation suggests the Giants want to take some of that burden away. Nagy has acknowledged that the offense was only around halfway installed entering the preseason opener, but two themes have emerged: more running and more Dart under center.
That should create more opportunities for play-action, defined reads and moving pockets while allowing Dart's improvisational ability to become a weapon rather than the entire offense.
There is plenty of evidence that this remain a work in progress. Not least the frightening hit Dart took against Minnesota after a missed blitz pickup by Tyrone Tracy Jr. The sophomore QB briefly entered the medical tent before returning to throw a touchdown to rookie receiver Malachi Fields. He finished 3-of-4 for 26 yards and the score.
His fearlessness is part of what makes him dangerous. It is also one of the biggest threats to the Giants' season. Harbaugh and Nagy therefore need to build an offense in which Dart can remain Dart without requiring him to play superhero football every Sunday.
The personnel changes this offseason have been considerable, and some have Harbaugh's fingerprints all over them.
Tight end Isaiah Likely followed him from Baltimore, giving Dart a versatile middle-of-the-field target. Fullback Patrick Ricard, another former Raven, fits perfectly with the intended physical running identity. Punter Jordan Stout also made the Baltimore-to-New York journey.
Elsewhere, New York added receiver Darnell Mooney, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, cornerback Greg Newsome II and defensive tackles D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris.
Then came perhaps the boldest decision of the offseason. The Giants traded star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati for the Bengals' No. 10 overall draft pick. New York used that selection on Miami offensive lineman Francis "Sisi" Mauigoa, having already taken Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5.
It was a major gamble, giving up one of the best players on the roster in exchange for younger, cheaper building blocks. But it also illustrated how aggressively Harbaugh and the Giants were prepared to reconstruct the team.
Reese has already looked like he belongs, bringing the physical downhill style that Wilson's defense requires, while Mauigoa showed his power as a run blocker against Minnesota.
But the rebuild does not stop there. The Giants agreed to add former Steelers running back Najee Harris this week after working him out as he returns from an Achilles injury. Harris gives Harbaugh another powerful downhill runner alongside Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, while also providing superior blocking to Tracy Jr and Singeltary in particular.
One of the most encouraging developments of the summer has been Cam Skattebo. His rookie season ended in horrific fashion last October when he suffered a dislocated right ankle and open tibia fracture. The question entering 2026 was not merely whether he would be medically cleared, but whether such an injury might change the violent running style that made him so effective.
So far, apparently not. Skattebo returned to team work at training camp and then carried four times for 19 yards against Minnesota in his first game action since the injury. His first touch went for four yards.
More importantly, he has spoken about retaining the aggressive approach that defined his rookie season while becoming smarter about avoiding unnecessary punishment, a combination could make him an almost ideal Harbaugh running back.
The addition of Harris should not necessarily be interpreted as a demotion for Skattebo. It looks more like another sign that New York wants multiple backs capable of carrying a physical rushing attack rather than relying on one player for 20-plus touches every week.
For Skattebo, the biggest positive is simple: he does not currently look like a player frightened by what happened to him.
Skattebo appears much further along than Malik Nabers, but there are at least some encouraging signs for the electric third-year wide receiver.
Nabers tore both his ACL and meniscus in Week 4 last season and underwent surgery. He has gradually increased his workload throughout camp, progressing from individual work into 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. On August 18, he was running routes and catching passes in team drills, although he remained in a red non-contact jersey.
Harbaugh has made the next hurdle clear: contact. Before Nabers can realistically be cleared for Week 1 against Dallas on September 13, the Giants need to see him handle the physical side of practice and demonstrate that he can both perform and protect himself.
Nonetheless, Nabers has been cutting, running routes and making catches again, and his involvement has steadily increased rather than stalled. Nine months after surgery, simply avoiding the PUP list at the start of camp was already a significant milestone.
There should, however, be some caution around expectations. A healthy Nabers completely changes this offense. He gives Dart the explosive No. 1 receiver capable of winning isolated matchups and forcing safeties away from the box, which in turn helps the very running game Harbaugh is trying to establish.
But the Giants cannot treat August practice highlights as proof that the old Nabers is completely back. The goal should be having him healthy in December, not merely available in September.
One 13-10 preseason defeat should not alter anybody's projection for the Giants.
What could already be seen underneath the scoreline is of greater significance. Skattebo ran without hesitation. Mauigoa showed glimpses of why New York spent the No. 10 pick on him. Reese brought speed and violence at linebacker. Malachi Fields caught a touchdown from Dart. Wilson's defense attacked. Special teams, an area that should receive considerably more attention under Harbaugh, was one of New York's strongest units.
There were negatives too. The offense remained inconsistent, Dart took another unnecessary punishment, the secondary committed penalties and the run defense was vulnerable without several veteran starters. That makes this a fascinating Giants team rather than a proven one.
Expect them to be harder to play against.
That sounds simplistic, but it may be the most meaningful change Harbaugh can make immediately.
The Giants now have a potentially explosive young quarterback, one of football's most dangerous receivers when healthy, a fascinating power back in Skattebo, a deeper group of offensive weapons and an imposing collection of edge rushers led by Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Harbaugh's job is to turn those individual pieces into a functioning football team.
The offseason suggests his method will look familiar: run the football, control the line of scrimmage, attack on defense, take special teams seriously and demand consistency every day in practice.
There are still major variables. Nabers must complete his recovery. Skattebo has to prove his body can withstand his playing style. Dart needs to protect himself. Trading Lawrence has left New York needing its rebuilt defensive interior to perform.
But for perhaps the first time in several years, it is relatively easy to explain what the New York Giants are trying to be.
These are already beginning to look like John Harbaugh's Giants.
The remaining question is how quickly that identity translates into wins.
