PHOENIX — At first, head coach John Harbaugh did not mention the name of the most important player as he was detailing the identity he wants to see for the offense the Giants will put on the field.
He mentioned “high-powered’’ and a unit that “scores a lot of points.” Nothing too groundbreaking there.
He stressed the need for a system “elegant enough to handle all the complicated things that go with attacking defenses nowadays, but simple enough for the players to operate it in action, in battle, in the heat of battle, in a real effective way.’’
He insisted it is not going to be the same offense he had all those years with the Ravens because the makeup of the roster will determine much of that.
“It’s gonna be built around what the guys do well,’’ Harbaugh said.
It was here where Harbaugh introduced the main character to the plot.
“So the good thing, one of the many great things about Jaxson Dart is he does so many things so well,’’ Harbaugh said Monday at the NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore.
Doing so many things so well sounds like a solid plan.
The next step in Dart’s development will be taken with an entirely new crew to guide him. Harbaugh is on the scene. So is Matt Nagy, the offensive coordinator and Brian Callahan, the quarterbacks coach. Dart’s successful rookie season was under the direction of Brian Daboll, Mike Kafka and Shane Tierney. That group got in on the ground floor with Dart but it is a new group that hopes to raise Dart as close to the penthouse as possible.
Dart is not Lamar Jackson — Harbaugh’s quarterback the past eight seasons — and the Giants’ offense will not attempt to wholly replicate what was seen in Baltimore all those years. Athletically, Jackson has no peers. This does not mean Harbaugh is viewing this next assignment as a case of cutting back the demands on his quarterback.
“I mean, he can live in a lot of different worlds, and if you watch the offenses that we’ve had over the last number of years, it’s built around a lot of different elements, and there’s a lot of different elements that Jaxson can play in,’’ Harbaugh said. “Power run, dropback pass, quarterback-driven stuff, RPOs, quick ball-out type of completions. He can throw the ball downfield, throw it off play action. I’m not sure what he really can’t do, you know? So we’re gonna try to live in those different worlds and see how it fits all the other guys on the offense.’’
All the other guys on the offense are not set just yet. In free agency, the big move was re-signing right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, and it is clear Harbaugh is not completely comfortable with the makeup of the offensive line. He called it a “work in progress’’ and cautioned “we don’t play until September.’’
Harbaugh admitted getting the offensive line where he wants it — and the defensive line, as well — is likely not a one-year undertaking. He compared the lack of offensive line signings in free agency on a lack of available talent, at the right price.
“For the parameters that we built, you can overpay, but you can’t afford it a lot of times,’’ Harbaugh said. “You wanted to be smart, and we wanted to be efficient, and how we did it, and we’re still gonna continue to do that, because, you know, you’re also building for the long term.
“We still have free agency available to us. We still have the draft. And we also have really good players already. Really good players that are going to play really well. So we’re going to get ready to play really well.’’
The Giants could help Dart and their offensive line by making a major investment in the first round of the draft in an impact player. Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame, the top running back in this class, could be on the board at No. 5 and that would be some plunge taken by the Giants.
Harbaugh was asked if he considered Love to be a very good player.
“I’d probably put ‘very, very’ good player,’’ Harbaugh said. “Put a couple ‘verys’ in front of that, maybe a couple more. He’s really good.’’
If it’s not Love, Dart will be handing the ball off to Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr., perhaps Devin Singletary and maybe someone else. Whoever is in the huddle with him, Dart’s improvement in year No. 2 will be imperative. Harbaugh sees Dart needing to work on the basics.
“It’s one thing to do the little things well in a drill or in a practice, it’s another thing to take the little things, do them well in the biggest moments, that’s more of a challenging thing,’’ Harbaugh said.
The best quarterbacks often take significant strides forward in their second season. Harbaugh is counting on that.
“I fully expect him,’’ Harbaugh said, “to make that leap.’’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
