Frank Viselli asks: With Daniel Bellinger signing with the Titans, I wonder if Brian Daboll being the new offensive coordinator\u00a0 had something to do with that? If so, why didn\u2019t Daboll get him more involved as part of the Giants offense? I believe that Bellinger was very much under-utilized as a Giant.<\/p>\n
Ed says: Frank, of course Daboll being in Tennessee<\/a> had something to do with Bellinger signing there. I, too, found it interesting becuase of the way Bellinger was \u2014 and was not \u2014 used with the Giants.<\/p>\n Don Barone asks: Just a quick question. As impressive as Harbaugh\u2019s collection of coaches is, I can\u2019t help the feeling that there\u2019s\u00a0too many chefs in the kitchen.\u00a0I am concerned that with so many former head coaches and high level coordinators that there will be lots of big egos leading to disagreements. Too much of a good thing. Thoughts?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Ed says: Don, this is a topic that I\u2019ve asked both John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy about.<\/p>\n I asked Harbaugh at the NFL Scouting Combine, because it was a question that had been coming up. His answer was fairly lengthy, and it was apparent he had given the idea of how everyone would work together consideration. Here is the entire answer:<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of organizing how you want to operate.\u00a0I don\u2019t think it really is determined by who\u2019s had what experience so much as who they are as people and coaches and how they fit together.\u00a0A big part of my job is to make sure that we do have alignment that way and that we are operating in a way that is efficient and effective and is together.<\/p>\n \u201cNot just saying, okay, we\u2019re going to collaborate and walking away.\u00a0How are we going to organize our process?\u00a0System building to me is really important.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the systems is the plays and the way the offense operates.\u00a0Another part of the system is how you operate the game planning part.\u00a0How you operate practices. How you operate installing and teaching and preparing your guys.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re really intentional about all that, we should be organizing a system that all those play caller guys, all those great minds we have, are working together.\u00a0How does that work? What do we do first?\u00a0What do we do second?\u00a0Who talks to who when?<\/p>\n \u201cAll those things are organized in a way that is intentional so that we can at the end of the day have the best game plan when we go on the field.\u00a0Hopefully you see it in the way the guys play reflected because we\u2019ve organized it in a good way.\u201d<\/p>\n We had access to Nagy during rookie mini-camp. Here was his answer to the question:<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really been invigorating for me,\u201d Nagy said. \u201cTo your question, you have all these guys that have all this experience and backgrounds of coordinators, head coaches. There\u2019s a lot. I mean, there\u2019s a lot of guys.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing into this, you can look at it different ways. I think if you look at it one way you could say, well, my title is offensive coordinator, and it\u2019s my job to do everything. That\u2019s not true. We have so many \u2013 Coach Harbs did such a great job at bringing in guys with a ton of experience, and I\u2019d be foolish to not use that. They\u2019ve been amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been so much fun putting this offense together, our offense here. I know a lot of different coaches with a lot of different backgrounds from different teams, a lot of different coaches with OC experience, head coaching experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Nagy made sure to mention as many of the coaches as he could.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cYou look at (passing game coordinator\/quarterbacks coach) Brian Callahan. Here\u2019s a former head coach that\u2019s now a quarterback coach and passing game coordinator. I did that in 2022 after I got fired in Chicago<\/a>. I went back to Kansas City<\/a> in the same role,\u201d Nagy said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that interview process with Calli, I wanted him to understand and know, it\u2019s not easy doing what you\u2019re doing. I have a ton of respect for what you are doing, and I\u2019m going to be there. We\u2019re going to team up together to tackle this thing together and make it ours.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get a guy like (senior offensive assistant) Greg Roman, who has been an offensive coordinator in our division in Kansas City last year, and here he is coming in and been doing this a long time. That\u2019s awesome, the value that he brings.<\/p>\n \u201cA guy like (offensive line coach) Mike Bloomgren has been a head coach at Rice. (Running backs coach) Willie Taggart has been a head coach at four or five different colleges. The experience goes on and on and on. You\u2019ve got (tight ends coach) Tim Kelly, who was an offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s so important for all of us \u2013 and we talked about it \u2013 put the egos aside. Let\u2019s make this ours. Let\u2019s not worry about whose idea it is. Let\u2019s make it our idea, and let\u2019s run with it. Let\u2019s make it make sense to the guys, and let\u2019s go out there and figure out as we go through OTAs and into training camp what we\u2019re going to look like.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t thank those guys enough, and it starts at the top with Coach Harbaugh. I\u2019ve just been really, really fortunate and lucky, because it\u2019s a beautiful staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of the reason this can work is because Harbaugh is an established head coach who will have clear expectations for each assistant. The other part is that each of these coaches knows that for them to have a chance to climb back up the coaching ladder the Giants have to be successful, and that\u2019s not going to happen unless they work together.<\/p>\n Ronald Lukoff asks: I hope I\u2019m not going to seem like a downer because I\u2019m really happy to have Harbaugh as our coach. But I wonder, what is the objective of the regular season? Is it to make the playoffs or to get to the Super Bowl? I\u2019m fortunate in that I\u2019ve seen the Giants in 5 Super Bowls and the excitement of that game is indescribable to me. I never felt that way about making the playoffs. This brings me to the question I would like to ask.\u00a0What do you think about the fact that in 18 seasons, Harbaugh has been to the playoffs 12 times, but ONLY one Super Bowl (yes he won it, but only one). I feel as though his personnel was always good, Lamar Jackson, MVP, but again only one SB. Do you think he is a great regular season coach or can he get us to a SB. I hope I am 100% wrong and he can get us to the promised land. Your thoughts?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Ed says: Ronald, why does it seem like you are peering over the ledge at the end of May during an offseason that has brought a lot of optimism to the fan base?<\/p>\n You asked a bunch of questions. Let me try to get to each.<\/p>\n Yes, John Harbaugh has only been to and won one Super Bowl. But, he did accomplish it. Can he do it again? Of course he can. It doesn\u2019t mean it will happen. No head coach has ever won a Super Bowl with two different teams. Seven \u2014 Don Shula, Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Dick Vermeil, Mike Holmgren, John Fox, Andy Reid \u2014 have coached multiple teams in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n Fact is, Harbaugh is the most accomplished head coach the Giants have had since Tom Coughlin. Remember that Harbaugh\u2019s Ravens<\/a> competed against the Tom Brady<\/a> era New England Patriots<\/a>, Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, and a Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos<\/a> team that went to a pair of Super Bowls, winning one. The road has never been easy.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Every team wants to win the Super Bowl every year. The goal of the regular season? That is to get to the playoffs, or to at least put yourself in position to have a chance in the last couple of weeks to make the playoffs. Once you are in the playoffs then you are chasing a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n I think Harbaugh\u2019s record is phenomenal. Twelve playoff appearances, and 15 winning seasons in 18 years. A Super Bowl title. The Giants have made two playoff appearances and won one playoff game over the past 14 seasons.<\/p>\n I know Ravens fans have issues with certain things Harbaugh did over the years, but over nearly two decades of course that is going to happen. I think the Giants would sign up for the kind of \u201cproblems\u201d the Ravens experienced under Harbaugh.<\/p>\n Doug Mollin asks: There is always a PFF discussion on the boards and I hope you can help me understand it a little better. Let\u2019s take Tyler Nubin as an example.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n As a rookie, he had a 76 PFF grade. Made Brugler\u2019s 2024 All-Rookie Team. Selected by PFF as the \u201cbreakout candidate\u201d for the Giants in 2025.<\/p>\n And by PFF (and our own eyes), Nubin did not play well last year: a 57 grade.<\/p>\n Can PFF help us understand what happened? Or help predict what might happen in 2026? Or is it, \u201chey this is how Nubin played in 2025; how he plays in 2026 in anyone\u2019s guess\u201d?<\/p>\n In baseball, the analytics are so much more useful IMO. Even something simple like xERA versus actual ERA\u00a0(xERA is what you\u2019d expect the pitcher\u2019s ERA to be based on a series of factors). So, if a pitcher finished the year with a 5.50 ERA and a 3.25 xERA, we can feel pretty good that there was some bad luck involved and is likely to have better results the following season (likely, not certain of course).<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I guess the bottom line is \u2014 how is PFF best used to evaluate and predict player performance?<\/p>\n Ed says: Doug, I don\u2019t think Pro Football Focus grades can be used for anything other than what they are \u2014 subjective scores for how a player performed based on the grader\u2019s perception of what a player could or should have done on any given play.<\/p>\n The grades don\u2019t give us any analysis of what a player did or did not do on any given play. They don\u2019t account for what other players did or did not do, and how that may have impacted a player\u2019s performance. The grades are based on what the analyst \u201cthinks\u201d was supposed to happen on a play. They don\u2019t know for certain because they are not part of the coaching staff, and don\u2019t know each player\u2019s exact responsibilites and what they have been taught for each play or situation. Baseball analytics have nuance. PFF grades do not. They don\u2019t tell us anything about the why, or how, and don\u2019t consider circumstance in any real way.<\/p>\n As for using PFF scores in a predictive manner, they are not meant to do that, either. They tell you how the grader or graders believe a player did in an individual game or season. I guess you could use them as predictive if you looked at a player\u2019s year over year trends and saw grades going consistently up or down, but that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I say it over and over, but PFF grades are a tool that should be used for discussion. They are not the be-all and end-all of determining player performance or deciding who is good and who is not. It might tell you generically who played well and who did not, but even that is debatable on a weekly basis. Many times our eyes tell us a different story than the PFF grades do.<\/p>\n K\u00f6lnerbigblue\u00a0asks: Ed, with respect to trading Kayvon Thibodeaux sometime during camp for draft pick(s), what do you believe would be the impact on the locker room?\u00a0 A trade for a player could be a totally different dynamic depending upon the other player.<\/p>\n Ed says: K\u00f6lner, first and foremost you should know I do not believe that is going to happen<\/a>. Unless someone offers a player-for-player deal you believe makes you better, trading Thibodeaux now seems counter-productive to being a good team.<\/p>\n As for the locker room, teams always have to consider the impact of their decisions on the players. A trade of Thibodeaux for draft picks before the season starts would not go over well, unless Thibodeaux were to burn some bridges and demand it. Which has not happened, and probably will not happen.<\/p>\n Gino Phillips asks: I appreciated your story on Wednesday on Tracy.\u00a0 I too believe that he does not garner the recognition that should be warranted.\u00a0 Too many writers are dooming the Giants\u2019 running game if Skattebo is not 95%\u2026\u00a0 The power running game might be weakened, but if Tracy accomplished what he did with the prior offenses, he should still be productive with the new one. For background, do you have any insight as to how Harbaush used an RB2 in Baltimore?<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Ed says: Gino, in looking over Harbaugh\u2019s history, every year has been different. That is part of being a good coach, being flexible enough to adapt to what you are working with. Harbaugh had Ray Rice<\/a> at the beginning of his time in Baltimore<\/a> and Derrick Henry<\/a> at the end. Those are bellcow backs, and he rode them hard. In-between, he has had a variety of good but not great backs, and a look at the numbers reveals a division of labor. So, he has done it both ways.<\/p>\n Submit a question<\/p>\n Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to bigblueview@gmail.com and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank Viselli asks: With Daniel Bellinger signing with the Titans, I wonder if Brian Daboll being the new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36074,8287,2674,12335,27059,34377,13014,836,53182,837,9,11,10,49763,7649,22656,97158,287,3918,2381],"class_list":["post-248748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-baltimore","tag-chicago","tag-denver-broncos","tag-derrick-henry","tag-head-coach","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-kansas-city","tag-kansas-city-chiefs","tag-matt-nagy","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-offensive-coordinator","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-ravens","tag-ray-rice","tag-tennessee","tag-the-giants","tag-tom-brady"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}