Giants Mailbag: Is the John Harbaugh Effect Real?

In our latest edition of the weekly New York Giants On SI mailbag, we have questions about the John Harbaugh effect, training camp on the road, and if the progress shown by the team in the spring is for real.

If you ever have a question you’d like considered for a response, e-mail it to us, or post a “tweet” to us @Patricia_Traina with the hashtag #askPTrain so we see it.

From “Theres Allways Next Year” (@meirparnes): How has the team looked as a whole so far? Wins prediction and biggest concern?

June 2026: New York Giants huddle up after concluding a minicamp practice. | Patricia Traina | New York Giants On SI

“TANY” to my eye, the team looked very competitive and locked in, but as I tell everyone all the time, spring practices are non-contact and are not run at full speed, so we have to take everything that we see with a grain of salt and just hope that the good stuff we did see carries into summer camp and the preseason. But I will say that I was encouraged by what I did see.

I laid out a very early 2026 prediction total of 9-8 in this article, should you want to see how I arrived at it.

As for my biggest concern, I would say the team's overall health. I didn’t like that three injuries occurred on the grass practice field, so I am hoping that the new technology and methods that head coach John Harbaugh mentioned will help stave off the Achilles injuries that hit the team in the spring.

From Mike Whitman (@3dubyas): How is it that we have a new coaching staff, yet the same string of injuries? It seems like every single year we have players go down early?

Mike, I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s the exact same string of injuries, but I know what you’re getting at. And what’s weird is that, to my knowledge, all but one of the injuries happened on grass.

I suspect load management involves switching, which is why Harbaugh mentioned getting new equipment to spot players who need a rest.

But look, you can’t bubble wrap these guys until opening day. That’s sort of what the previous staff did, and then people wondered why the team came out of the chute ill-prepared.

The bottom line is injuries are going to happen. And they stink when they do, especially this early in the year. A team just needs to be smart in how they approach load management while still ensuring they get all the players quality work.

From Kris Kauffeld (@dublk52), when we look back, do you think going away for training camp will make a difference to the team as opposed to staying in NJ?

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart | Thomas Salus-Imagn Images

Kris, to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to really matter. It’s not as though the team chose to hold camp off-site–this was in place long before John Harbaugh was hired. And I don’t think he’s going to run the camp any differently just because it’s not in East Rutherford.

I found it interesting that the handful of players brought to the podium were indifferent to it. That’s kind of how I feel about it. Camp is camp. It’s gotta be held somewhere.

And it just so happens that if you have it at home, it’s more cost-effective, as you don’t have to ship everything in your facility related to the football program to a new location (which is why, in part, the Giants stopped going away for camp).

And here’s something of interest. It does not appear that The Greenbrier Sports Performance Center has an indoor football field (unless they have since added one and just haven’t updated their website or it's part of "and more" description, though one would think that would be mentioned by name).

If they don’t have an indoor field, the Giants better hope that they don’t run into inclement weather that would force them indoors; otherwise, they’d be looking at the situation they had years ago in Albany, where whenever the weather was bad, they had to work in the gymnasium.

From Carly F (via e-mail): Do you think Deonte Banks has finally turned the corner?

New York Giants cornerback Deonte Banks | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Hi Carly. I thought Deonte Banks had a strong spring showing, and apparently my opinion is shared by defensive backs coach Addison Lynch, who spoke glowingly of Banks.

That said, I take everything from the spring with a grain of salt because I have seen guys look really good during OTAs and minicamps only to disappear once the pads go on.

So let’s just say that I’m cautiously optimistic about Banks, but I need to see him when the pads go on and the games start before I fully subscribe to the hype.

From Joseph J. (via e-mail): Much has been said about the John Harbaugh effect on the team and how it’s some magic formula that will turn the Giants into champions. Personally, I think that’s overrated and unrealistic, but I’d like to get your opinion on that.

Interesting question, Joseph. I do believe that, based on history, Harbaugh knows what it takes to win as he’s done it before. I also believe that the coach and the organization have done everything possible to put the team in a position to find success.

That said, there are elements that are beyond anyone’s control. For example, what happens if the injury bug rips through the team's key players? What if the players don’t execute their assignments? What if they just don’t match up against their opponents?

I could go on with “What ifs,” but the point is that, at the end of the day, while a team should be in good shape to succeed if it's prepared, that doesn’t always happen.

I am optimistic that Harbaugh’s ways, based on what I’ve seen thus far, will make a difference, but I’m not ready to say the Giants will be this year’s version of the New England Patriots, as there are still a lot of questions to be answered about various areas of the football team.

I do think that the Giants will be much better and more tightly run than they have been in the past, and I think if they can climb to eight or nine wins, that’s a big step in the right direction.

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