The biggest change around the Giants right now isn’t a depth chart battle or a training camp wrinkle. It’s the tone.
Under new head coach John Harbaugh, the organization is being described as having real credibility, and that shift is already being felt. The Athletic noted that Harbaugh has brought a clear vision and a level of buy-in that no other coach on the market this offseason could have matched. The piece also said the Giants now feel like a professional organization for the first time in a long time, even if nobody knows yet how that will show up in the win-loss column.
That confidence is part of what stands out. The Athletic pointed to Harbaugh’s willingness to talk about expecting to win, a contrast to the way general manager Joe Schoen and former coach Brian Daboll approached this time of year. There is still plenty of concern about a roster with obvious flaws, but the reporting said Harbaugh and the players sound eager to get moving.
On the roster front, ESPN’s 2026 NFL season X factors list included DT DJ Reader for the Giants. The writeup said Reader was once a premier run-stuffing nose tackle, but his production has dipped over the past two seasons.
ESPN cited his 8.6% stop rate last season - his lowest single-season mark since 2018 - along with a career-low 1.1% stuff rate. The concern is simple: can Reader still give the Giants enough against the run in a new defensive system, or will the defense again be too easy to run on?
Cam Skattebo remains a major talking point as well. CBSSports.com looked at whether he needs better advice after recent Giants antics, stressing that an agent should tell a client what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear.
The piece also noted that Skattebo is playing in the United States’ biggest media market, where mistakes get amplified fast. Even so, the opener against the Dallas Cowboys is less than two weeks away, and the focus will shift quickly to how he looks coming back from injury.
If he picks up where he left off last season, the rest of the offseason noise will fade.
There was also a look at the Giants’ practice approach. USA Today reported that the team has limited recording at practice under Harbaugh, with less media and fan access and less video, photos, and practice description circulating on social media.
The article framed that as the Giants protecting their “corporate secrets.” It also mentioned that not every team has clamped down as hard, citing Miami Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley’s admission that fan-posted practice video has been used against him.
And there’s more Giants roster churn to track. One report asked whether Jihad Ward could be coming back to the Giants, while another noted that ex-Giants Evan Neal and Azeez Ojulari signed with the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad.
There’s also an intriguing story on long snapper Ben Mann in the New York Post, which said it would be hyperbole to call him born to be a Giant, but added that Giants lineage and NFL pedigree run through his family. For a 24-year-old long snapper, that family connection has pushed him into a rare spotlight.
Big Blue View also highlighted two Giants making ESPN’s list of top players for the 2026 season and noted that Skattebo addressed rumors of a rift with Harbaugh. The week ahead is already taking shape, with the Giants set to open against the Cowboys in Week 1.
In Other News...
Najee Harris Is Suddenly Pushing A Giants Week 1 Shakeup
Najee Harris arrived in New York only in mid-August, but he has already worked his way into the conversation around the Giants backfield. The former Steelers runner got into the preseason finale and has climbed the depth chart quickly enough to make the teams running back picture feel a lot less settled than it did a few weeks ago.
Concerns around Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. have only added to the uncertainty, and that has opened the door for Harris to keep pushing toward the top of the rotation. With Week 1 approaching, the Giants still have time to sort it out, but the way this backfield is trending leaves open the possibility that Harris could wind up as the lead option. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Defense May Ride On One Veteran Fix Up Front
The Giants spent part of their offseason trying to steady the middle of a defense that got gashed too often against the run last season, and DJ Reader is the veteran brought in to help change that. At 32, he arrives with the kind of size and experience New York has been looking for up front, and the front office is banking on him to give the interior defensive line more resistance when opponents try to pound the ball between the tackles.
There is still some uncertainty attached to the move, though, because Readers recent play has not matched his best years and the Giants are asking for a bounce-back at a position where decline can show quickly. New York also added Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese to the linebacker group, but the entire plan still hinges on whether Reader can hold the middle well enough to let those pieces work behind him. [Read more 🡒]
Eli Manning Hall Of Fame Debate Just Got More Complicated
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is changing the way it chooses its next class, trimming its selection committee from 50 members to 28 in an effort to address possible biases. Hall of Fame president and CEO Jim Porter said the overhaul is meant to strengthen the institutions traditions, but it also adds a fresh layer of intrigue to an already tricky process for players whose cases have long split opinion.
For Giants fans, that matters because Eli Manning remains one of the most debated modern candidates on the board. His rsum has been discussed for years, and now his path could be shaped by a smaller voting group as the Hall weighs candidates already generating plenty of disagreement. The new setup does not settle the argument around Manning, but it does make the next few elections even more worth watching. [Read more 🡒]