How Giants plan for Jaxson Dart offense to live in 'different worlds'

New York Giants coach John Harbaugh believes Jaxson Dart, his quarterback, has plenty of room to grow before coming anywhere close to the ceiling within his game.

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The man leading that charge is Matt Nagy, who will run the offense being built from the ground up with Harbaugh's new offensive coordinator at the forefront as he goes from coaching Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City to Dart back home in New Jersey.

What does want from Dart and Co. on that side of the ball? Here's what Harbaugh had to say last week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, a point he will surely hammer home as the coaches welcome the players back to the facility for the first time for Tuesday's start of the voluntary offseason program.

"Elegant enough to handle all the complicated things that go with attacking defenses nowadays," Harbaugh said. "But simple enough for the players to operate it in action, in battle, in the heat of battle, in a real effective way."

They aren’t chasing myths and ghosts at quarterback with Dart in the fold; rather, there is a real purpose with reestablishing success in 2026 under Harbaugh on their minds.

There's no questioning Dart as the centerpiece of the Giants' offense right now. That was the case when the season ended, and that is the premise by which the Giants are operating as they remake the roster and the identity of this team.

The Harbaugh era will welcome a bit of a culture shock in terms of how the offense will operate. No one is looking to change Dart - if anything, the Giants hope to capitalize on his skill set and will build the playbook around that - but in terms of how the Giants attack schematically, it's going to be a reset.

"The good thing, one of the many great things about Jaxson Dart, is he does so many things so well," Harbaugh said. "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. 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."

Nagy, 47, has been a part of an offense established and run in Kansas City by NFL coaching legend and multi-time Super Bowl winner Andy Reid that has featured Patrick Mahomes.

While he did not call plays and has not since his days as head coach of the Chicago Bears, Nagy has played an integral role within the Kansas City offense.

"I think Matt Nagy, I do think the way he runs an offense, it's going to fit Jaxson Dart," NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms told NorthJersey.com and The Record. "Jaxson Dart has that playmaking, backyard football ability and I think Matt Nagy is going to enhance that because he'll understand the player he has. He's going to give the Giants some structure and some rules, and some offensive plays here. But he's not going to wipe away his natural God-given ability and his feel for the game, that's what I like."

The think tank of coaches the Giants have put together to help Dart get his game to the next level is evident of that; any plans will blend ideas from Nagy, quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator Brian Callahan and senior offensive assistant Greg Roman, who will be heavily involved in the run game. Expect running backs coach Willie Taggart and tight ends coach Tim Kelly - who finished last season as the Giants' interim OC - to also be involved as Harbaugh puts together an offense essentially from scratch.

Establishing the right structure both schematically and from a personnel perspective is paramount to the Giants' success under Harbaugh, especially in the first year. And if he can take a page from what Mike Vrabel did in New England, as he brought Josh McDaniels back as OC for Maye, finding the proper mix of experience, innovation and rapport could be the difference in Dart taking his game to another level.

During his 18-year tenure in Baltimore, Harbaugh hired five offensive coordinators that arrived with NFL head coaching experience: Cam Cameron, Jim Caldwell, Gary Kubiak, Marc Trestman and Marty Mornhinweg. He also hired Todd Monken, who had been a college head coach at Southern Mississippi.

Nagy was a college quarterback at Delaware. He is a proponent of the West Coast offense and likes his quarterbacks to navigate the pocket with the skill to make plays downfield with his arm in addition to keeping defenses on their heels with his legs. That speaks to Dart's talent, and a coaching presence as a teacher of concepts and technique should only work to his benefit in development heading into Year 2.

With Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo expected back from season-ending injury, Isaiah Likely in a fold as a shiny new toy, new voices in his ear and valuable experience gained, Dart has a chance to mature exponentially as a player and a pro.

The Giants could add to that equation on offense and make a major move in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft by selecting Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame, the top running back in this class and a dynamic weapon.

Asked if he considered Love to be a very good player, Harbaugh quipped: “I’d probably put ‘very, very’ good player. Put a couple ‘verys’ in front of that, maybe a couple more. He’s really good."

There is more to Dart's skill set as a pocket passer - especially with more frontline playmakers in the fold - and the vertical, downfield element to the Giants’ offense represents untapped, immense potential, especially if free agent receivers Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin can produce as one-year additions.

Seemingly every significant play Dart made as a rookie came from matching his mind to his physical tools. He has impressed with his instincts, an awareness of what is going to happen on the other side of the ball and the moments that call for the throws he knows he can make.

Dart has a knack for making the difficult look routine. He promised last summer he would not be a robot, and he held firm to that during the season while also staying away from negative plays, striking a balance that has an entire organization excited about the potential of what's to come.

Harbaugh has not been shy in declaring how the Giants will build this team around the quarterback, adding: "Fully expect him to make that leap."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How Giants plan for Jaxson Dart offense to live in 'different worlds'

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