Giants Need Offensive Versatility, Creativity Without Nabers

Losing Nabers will alter how defenses approach the Giants. The Chargers’ ran a two-high safety coverage aimed to contain Nabers, which allowed the Giants to open the playbook a bit. They expanded their repertoire even more early on against the Saints and tried some new things. They must adapt beyond the game script and continue to be creative with their play calling, and have a prime opportunity to do so with Jaxson Dart under center.

Giving teams a Dart-attack

Prior to the game in the bayou, the Giants were near the bottom on the list of teams that run play-action plays or pre-snap motions. With the dynamic duo of Dart and Cam Skattebo in the backfield, these looks were abundant in Week 5, and a large factor as to why they were able to move the ball down the field. Breaking free from the confines of years of predictable offensive tendencies will disrupt opposing defenses and allow Dart to truly shine in his role. Offensive tackle Andrew Thomas even hinted at what to expect prior to the game. ​

However, the Saints made every proper adjustment to this uptempo style defense and played man the majority of the rest of the game. This stunted the Giants receivers and led to a flurry of disastrous turnovers from Dart and company. Brian Daboll rarely had an answer to the Saints’ man coverage, and when he did, the execution was poor.

The Giants must work to adapt to what goes on beyond the game script. They prepared for the game well and started hot, but dropped the ball when it came time to make these critical changes.

Giants Need to Improvise

These growing pains are inevitable. That’s part of being a rookie quarterback. But Dart’s ability to improvise still proved to be effective in the opening drive, and was what brought them their success against the Chargers.

He was the one who sparked one of the Giants’ most exciting play calls of the season. The touchdown shovel pass to Johnson was full-on Miles Davis-level improvisation, and was all Dart’s idea. This type of leadership and creativity in a debut is impressive, and it came down to his preparation in the film room.

He has already established a strong relationship and trust with his teammates, which is key to pulling these kinds of plays off. One of which is the rookie he shares the backfield with.

Utilize Cam Bleeping Skattebo​

After the Tyrone Tracy injury, Cam Skattebo dove into this role as RB1 headfirst; hilariously on brand for who he is.

Skattebo has been a true defibrillator. He jolted the heart of this Giants offense and gave it life. He has been a dynamic and powerful runner and has dominated early on in yards after contact and yards after the catch. ​

Skattebo is a prolific pass catcher. He is averaging 8.3 YAC per reception. To put that in perspective, the league’s total YAC leader, Christian McCaffrey, is averaging 7.8 YAC per reception. He has caught double the amount of passes as Skattebo, but the rookie is certainly in good company. Skattebo has shone as a lead blocker, too. The tandem between him and Dart in the backfield has been an exciting burst of energy to this G-Men offense.

Tighten Up Connection With Receivers

Dart just couldn’t get on the same page with his receivers in the latter half of the game, which was costly to any sort of hope of crawling back into it.

One receiver he particularly did not mesh with was Darius Slayton, whose production will be vital to the offense moving forward. He solidified himself as a reliable weapon during the Daniel Jones era, but has quietly faded into the background, and candidly speaking did not play his best game of football this past weekend.

In the absence of Nabers last year, although a small sample size, Slayton straight-up dominated this wide receiver room. He must return to form in the long run.

Tight End Time

An increase in tight end involvement helped the Giants out immensely. They went from tied for the third-lowest in total targets to tight ends to 11th lowest. Yes, they are still in the bottom half of the league, but made a significant jump up the list in just one week.

Theo Johnson led the team in receptions with six win Week 5, and currently leads the team in touchdowns with three.

Dart already seems to have established a great rapport with Johnson as well, and his uptick in production and two-touchdown day verifies that.

Overall, New York needs a more versatile offensive approach. They must keep an open mind about increasing movement before the snap, tight end involvement, and evening out the target share. That is the only way they can find success while they are deprived of a star receiver. And after being halted by a then 0-4 team’s man coverage, the Giants should also remain open-minded about adding more talent to their current receiving room.

Adding to the Arsenal

The Giants seem to have shut down any plans of expanding their wide receiver core or finding a band-aid solution to the absence of Nabers. They feel that he is irreplaceable, and plan to move forward with the next man up mentality.

The only problem the Giants face in trying to make a trade is doing so with limited assets. It just doesn’t feel like they have anything to sell except for draft picks, which they can not afford to lose. ​There are many notable free agent receivers who could provide value to the receiving room in New York. Michael Gallup is on that list. Gallup had a dud final year in Dallas in 2023, totaling only 418 yards on 34 passes. This led him to retirement, and then un-retirement. He signed with the Commanders, but did not make the 53-man roster heading into the regular season. Even though he was cut, he may have some juice left in the tank.

An Odell Beckham Jr. Return?

OBJ has been hinting at a reunion for quite some time now, and Giants fans would accept him back with arms wide open. It is unrealistic that the 32-year-old would bring much production to the team, but the electricity he would bring to MetLife would be insurmountable at the very least. ​ Dart was a great spark plug for the team, sure. And like any rookie quarterback, he has some fine tuning to do. But the reality is that moving forward, this schedule is relentless, and it doesn’t ease up until pretty late in the season. A change may need to be made if the Giants want to see any sustained success this season.