The New York Giants are taking a hard left turn while the rest of the NFL keeps drifting toward the same offensive blueprint.
Around the league, the search has been on for the next Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan, with teams chasing the under-center, play-action-heavy style that has become the modern gold standard. John Harbaugh’s Giants, though, are building something that runs against that current. And according to the reporting here, that’s not a flaw - it’s the point.
Harbaugh brought in offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and passing game coordinator Brian Callahan, two coaches whose recent work sits much farther from the league’s dominant trends. Nagy spent the last three seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, and in 2025 the Chiefs were in shotgun on 80% of their plays, third-most in the NFL.
Patrick Mahomes had just 57 play-action pass attempts, which ranked 26th. Callahan, who was the Tennessee Titans’ head coach last season, had the Titans in shotgun 72.4% of the time, ninth-most in the league, while they ran 87 play-action passes, 19th-most.
Before that, Callahan was the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, and Cincinnati posted the league’s second-highest shotgun rate and one of its lowest play-action rates.
That matters because the league has spent years moving in the opposite direction. The source points to the rise of heavy play-action from under-center formations as the hallmark of the Shanahan-McVay system.
Jared Goff led the NFL with 172 play-action attempts in 2020. Five years later, Matthew Stafford topped the league at 207.
Shotgun usage has been sliding as part of that shift. The Rams were down to 39.9% shotgun last season, the lowest mark in the NFL, while teams with similar approaches like the Seahawks and 49ers were around 50%.
Even the top three offenses in the league last season - the Patriots, Rams, and Bills, based on EPA per play - all used shotgun less than 55% of the time.
Harbaugh, however, doesn’t appear eager to follow that script.
The idea is that New York will keep leaning into shotgun looks, even if the rest of the league keeps treating under-center play-action as the answer. Nagy has said he’ll adapt to the roster, but some of his previous system is expected to carry over. That gives the Giants a different kind of offensive identity than the one most teams are chasing.
And it may fit Jaxson Dart better than the trendy alternative ever would.
Dart came out of Ole Miss from a simple college offense that asked him to operate at speed. The Rebels ran more than 70 plays per game and leaned on spread, shotgun formations to open space for receivers.
His accuracy and scrambling ability were emphasized, while his issues with anticipation were downplayed. He has already made progress in the NFL, showing more willingness to work through progressions, but he is still described here as fairly limited.
His best work comes when he can see the play unfold and when his receivers have room to operate.
There’s also another layer to this Giants setup. The offense is expected to blend Nagy and Callahan’s approach with the condensed, run-heavy style that offensive assistant Greg Roman is used to.
That creates a mix of two different NFL eras in one room. If those three voices can make it work together, the Giants could give Dart the kind of structure that leads to the second-year breakout fans are waiting for.
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