EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2014 How is the installation of a new offense going in New York? Giants backup quarterback Jameis Winston referenced a cookbook rather than a playbook, comparing the process to making gumbo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just so many good mixes in there,\u201d the jovial 12th-year veteran explained. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the old school; you\u2019ve got the new school; and you\u2019ve got just this melting pot of greatness, right? So, it\u2019s really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
That may sound like some classic Jameis Winston wisdom, but it\u2019s actually something he borrowed from former teammate Drew Brees\u2019 recent Pro Hall of Fame enshrinement speech \u2014 the longtime Saints QB mentioned neighbors bringing gumbo as a housewarming gift when he got to New Orleans \u2014 and put his own spin on it. And it is fitting for what\u2019s happening in New York on John Harbaugh\u2019s very experienced offensive coaching staff. There are a lot of new cooks in the kitchen, each with plenty of play-designing and play-calling experience, so the key for the Giants is working together to create a palatable, cohesive offensive \u201cgumbo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top Plays from Vikings @ Giants<\/p>\n
The staff features offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who\u2019s been a play-calling head coach in Chicago and spent a lot of time (both as a quarterbacks coach and OC) in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes. Senior offensive assistant Greg Roman most recently worked as the Los Angeles Chargers\u2019 offensive coordinator with Justin Herbert (working for Harbaugh\u2019s brother Jim) and had the same job in Baltimore with Harbaugh and quarterback Lamar Jackson. Passing game coordinator\/quarterbacks coach Brian Callahan most recently served as the Titans\u2019 play-calling head coach and previously worked as the OC in Cincinnati with Joe Burrow. Even tight ends coach Tim Kelly has served as an offensive coordinator (Tennessee and with the Giants as an interim last year).<\/p>\n
While so much experience can obviously be a good thing, \u201ctoo many cooks in the kitchen\u201d is an idiom for a reason. It\u2019s fair to wonder if there will be too many voices in the ear of second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart, who\u2019s had an up-and-down start to training camp<\/a>, including a roller-coaster preseason debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n But as Dart acclimates to a new offense \u2014 particularly after playing in one last year that was largely built to make his transition to the NFL as smooth as possible \u2014 growing pains were expected. And amid the process of adjusting to a new scheme, Dart actually sees all the new voices as a positive thing \u2014 he\u2019s soaking up a lot of knowledge from coaches who have been at this for a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get to hear their perspectives. You get to hear, obviously, their coaching each and every day,\u201d Dart said. \u201cThat alone gives this staff a really good edge for us as a team. \u2026 As players, we have all the confidence in the world in them being able to put us in the best spots to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n As fans got a glimpse of during the Giants\u2019 preseason debut Saturday, the new scheme is a departure from the college-style, RPO-heavy scheme former coach Brian Daboll\u2019s Giants ran last year during Dart\u2019s rookie season. Instead of playing out of shotgun most of the time, the quarterback is being asked to line up under center far more often \u2014 largely to facilitate what\u2019s expected to be a run-heavy attack \u2014 and Nagy said Dart has taken to the change with \u201cno issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Callahan emphasized that element is no longer new to the quarterback given how many reps he\u2019s put in this offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s taken to it really quickly,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt (the) under-center run game is usually going to be where you\u2019re most dangerous and multiple, and then that play-action game that goes with it is an important part of NFL offenses. We\u2019re still going to be in the gun and do the things that he\u2019s comfortable with there, and we\u2019ll have all the RPO game that goes with it. So we\u2019ll be multiple, and we have a lot of ways we can attack. Him being able to do (everything) is going to allow us to have that flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n In the spring, Callahan talked about the need to improve the consistency of Dart\u2019s eye discipline and footwork. Months later, the coach believes Dart has come a long way in both regards, saying his feet are calmer in the pocket and his eyes are usually in the right place as he understands what is being asked of him in the passing game.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a rhythm to it and a discipline to it where you know each concept requires you know a certain footwork and timing and rhythm, and I think he\u2019s really bought into all that, and I think he\u2019s really started to execute those things at a pretty good clip at this point,\u201d Callahan said. \u201cThe footwork discipline and just like the smoothness of it, I think has really improved.\u201d<\/p>\n