John Harbaugh Has the Giants Believing, But at Least One Outlet Isn't Buying It Yet

With a fairly strong showing in the preseason, the New York Giants are ready to hit the ground running and open up their first season of NFL football under the leadership of John Harbaugh, making a lot more noise than they did when they went 4-13 in 2025.

Harbaugh, who built a resume over 18 years in Baltimore, where the Ravens held a winning record and made the postseason in 13 of those seasons, knows that level of excellence has been missing and has elevated expectations for the franchise in his first year at the helm.

The Super Bowl-winning coach has gotten both the players and the fanbase bought into his culture and his mission to return to the playoffs over the coming season. However, for some reason, there are outsiders like the analysts at ESPN who still aren't joining the believers.

The outlet placed New York at No. 24 in their last power rankings poll in advance of the 2026 regular season, dropping them down a notch from the spot they held following the draft in April.

While no additional analysis was offered to support the placement, many are waiting to see how the improvements made by Harbaugh and company look once the Giants take to the gridiron for a regular season game in Week 1.

Results Must Come When it Starts to Matter

The preseason is often considered a "necessary evil," yet it is mostly irrelevant to the type of success an NFL team will have when the regular season arrives. Starters, or at least a good portion of them, see very limited workloads, and game plans are largely withheld so as not to be exposed before Week 1.

Thus, ESPN's poll is making a clear statement to the Giants: "Show me something" when it starts to matter. Harbaugh is entrenched in his new job, an arduous training camp is over, and important position groups have been upgraded.

Still, the time has come to see the franchise's best for 60 minutes translate into more than the four victories they mustered a year ago.

Jaxson Dart was a bright spot amidst the latest round of losing, flashing his impressive arm strength and brash confidence to scramble with the ball in his hands and give the Giants offense some extra life to contend with their opponents.

As much as Dart can be an underrated dual-threat weapon, the Giants are more concerned with keeping him from the blue medical tent and falling back on the new weapons he now has to throw to. Malik Nabers will be back healthy at some point, if not Week 1, and Isaiah Likely is another name who adds explosive playmaking at any moment.

Giants Are Banking on Vast Improvements

Aug 28, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh reacts during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

How far the Giants can go will also depend on them fixing their issues in stopping the run, a subject that continued into the preseason and was the catalyst for a bevy of moves along the defensive line and in the linebackers' room to add support in the trenches.

The Giants found ways to hold their own with less talent last season, but sadly, they couldn’t learn how to put it together for a full game, and the same untimely mishaps were what cost them the chance to win a few additional games.

Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise; with Harbaugh manning the ship, they now have a leader who won’t let that happen to his organization under his watch where he kept the Ravens as a perennial member of the AFC conversation.

When it comes to playing in New York, it doesn't matter what you did in the past, but the success you create in the present, with the pinnacle of that success being a championship, and Harbaugh and the Giants will need to begin the ascent towards a place they haven't been in a decade and a half this season.

The Big Blue faithful have been offered reasons for optimism under prior regimes, only to see the team falter early, oftentimes the season ending before it even reaches the halfway mark.

They, like the ESPN football gurus, want to see that trend change in 2026 now that a proven man is leading the way and bringing in all the pieces that have the potential to create a more productive football team.

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