The Giants Are Getting Bigger — and That's Very Much by Design

John Harbaugh has brought back George Young's "Planet Theory" philosophy to East Rutherford, and the numbers back it up.

Guard Daniel Faalele is among the 20+ members of the New York Giants who have added additional size to the team. | Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

There’s no “might” when it comes to whether the New York Giants are, in fact, giants.

This past offseason, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh placed an emphasis on adding bigger and heavier personnel across the board.

That’s a nod to the late Giants general manager George Young, whose “Planet Theory” believed there were only so many massive-sized human beings on Planet Earth who were also athletic enough to play in the trenches.

“To me, that always stuck with me when I saw that way back when,” Harbaugh said after the team wrapped up its mandatory minicamp.

Not surprisingly, Harbaugh’s 2025 Ravens team ranked at the top of the league in terms of weight, with an average of 248.66 pounds.

By contrast, the Giants ranked 20th in the league in terms of average weight (241.80)

According to data from Radar360, the Giants' 2026 90-man roster’s weight increased to 249.4, making the roster even heavier than Harbaugh’s 2025 Ravens.

Having heavier, immovable human beings on the field is one thing, but they also have to have the ability to move.

“To be successful as a football player, you have to have certain traits. So being big, being long, and being athletic are traits. Being physical, having strong hands, those are traits," Harbaugh said.

“Being fast is a trait. Being able to change direction, be fluid, and be extremely coordinated. Some people just have a knack, you can say. Add athleticism to that as well.”

For the Giants, their heaviest rostered player at the moment is 6-foot-6 guard Daniel Faalele, who weighs 380 pounds, and their lightest player, 5-foot-8 receiver Calvin Austin III, is listed at 162 pounds.

Twenty-six of the Giants’ current 90-man roster, or 28.8%, tip the scales at 300+ pounds, while only 19 members (21.1%) weigh under 200 pounds.

While Harbaugh is generally pleased that the Giants got bigger, at the end of the day, size isn’t going to be enough to justify a roster spot.  

“Players come in all different shapes and sizes, but they have to have traits,” he said. “Toughness is a trait. Endurance is a trait. Resilience is a trait. So kind of looking for all those things, and hopefully it's wrapped up in the best player.

"Who's the best player? The best player is the player who plays the best, and that's what you're looking for in the end.”

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