On Monday, The Athletic published a team-by-team look at the one lingering question facing each NFL club as the 2026 regular season opens.
For the New York Giants, the focus landed on second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart and whether he can adapt to a more traditional dropback offense under new coordinator Matt Nagy.
New York Giants: Can Jaxson Dart relearn how to play the position?
After playing almost his entire college career in shotgun, Dart played in an offense that ranked sixth in shotgun usage (76.5 percent) as a rookie. New offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will ask him to play under center a lot more than he has. In the preseason, the Giants offense was only in shotgun on 46.6 percent of snaps, indicating they’ll be under center more than in the gun.
Dart will have to relearn footwork and timing in Nagy’s offense. Also, quarterback option plays are being phased out of the league because teams are just too good at defending them, and it’s not worth putting the quarterback at risk without getting explosive plays in return. There might be growing pains for Dart, but they’ll be necessary for career longevity.
That assessment matches what Giants coaches have been asking of Dart all offseason. Preseason and training camp snap counts already showed a sharp drop in shotgun usage, forcing the young quarterback to refine his drops, timing, and play-action mechanics after years spent almost exclusively in the gun.
Head coach John Harbaugh’s staff has constructed an offense that leans on under-center runs and the play-action that follows, a style meant to disguise intent and keep Dart healthier over the long haul.
Designed quarterback option plays, which fueled some of Dart’s rookie production, are fading around the league as defenses grow more disciplined on the edges. New York appears willing to sacrifice a measure of that early explosiveness for a more conventional, sustainable approach.
How quickly Dart masters those details will go a long way toward determining how the Giants offense looks when the regular season begins.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: One question facing New York Giants as 2026 regular season opens
