The "Skyscraper" Strategy: Why Giants Are Surrounding Jaxson Dart With Massive New Targets

New York Giants legendary quarterback Eli Manning had Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, two big-bodied receivers who helped him settle into his NFL career as a quarterback and who also helped the Giants win their third Super Bowl championship back in 2007.

Now, current quarterback Jaxson Dart is getting his very own set of “sky scrapers" in the passing game, with the hopes that Dart, who is coming off a very encouraging rookie season, can not only take his game to the next level but also add a fifth Super Bowl trophy to the team’s display in its headquarters lobby.

Head coach John Harbaugh, in his makeover of the Giants roster, has moved away from the shortish, yards after catch receivers that were a staple of the Brian Daboll offenses, and has instead gravitated toward the bigger-bodied targets who offer larger catch radii and who are more physical in terms of coming down with the jump balls.

Such a philosophy shift cannot be understated for Dart, who is entering his second season as Big Blue’s starting quarterback and whose areas of improvement include better accuracy on the deep balls of 20+ air yards.

According to Pro Football Focus, last season Dart attempted 50 pass plays of 20+ yards but completed just 16, for a 32% completion rate, ranking last among 17 quarterbacks who had a minimum of 50 deep pass attempts.

Factoring in that he had four passes dropped by his receivers, Dart’s adjusted pass completion rate on deep passes of 20+ air yards was 40%, which moved Dart to 12th out of 17 quarterbacks in the sample size.

Does height really matter?

A closer look at Dart’s deep downfield pass attempts unveiled a not-so-surprising set of stats. Simply put, Dart had far more success throwing the long ball to receivers listed at 6-foot-2 or taller than to shorter receivers.

Per the Locked On Giants podcast, citing data from TruMedia, Dart completed 32.5% of his pass attempts (6-of-13) for 195 yards, 1 touchdown, and had one dropped ball to receiving targets (tight ends and wideouts) to the bigger receivers (6-foot-2 or taller).

He completed just 25% of his pass attempts (8-of-32) for 240 yards, one touchdown, and had two dropped balls to receiving targets (tight ends and wideouts) standing under 6-foot-2.

And his lone interception on a pass attempt of 20+ yards came on a target (Jalin Hyatt) who stood under 6-foot-2.

How the Giants addressed this

Nov 8, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Malachi Fields (0) makes a catch as Navy Midshipmen linebacker Adam Klenk (49) defends during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Harbaugh joked after the draft that they had come away with true giants in the draft, and he wasn’t just talking figuratively, given the skyscrapers the Giants added both in the draft and in free agency to their existing group, the tallest of whom include:

WR Malachi Fields, 6-4
TE Isaiah Likely, 6-4
WR Ryan Miller, 6-2
Darius Slayton, 6-1
Thomas Fidone II 6-6
TE Theo Johnson, 6-6
WR Beaux Collins 6-3

In Fields, the Giants now have another big-bodied receiving option.

“He's certainly a different body type than we currently have,” general manager Joe Schoen said.

“Adding that was something we had talked about doing. We weren't going to force it unless the value was at the right spot. Obviously, being 6'4-1/2", 218 pounds, and the catch radius and athleticism that he displays were attractive.”

And in getting another big-bodied receiver like Fields, that’s only going to help Dart moving forward, particularly on those deep balls.

“You can put it in the radius, and he's going to come down with it a lot of times,” Schoen said. “You saw that at Notre Dame—a downfield target who can come down with the ball in contested situations. Red zone, a big body in the red zone, again with that tremendous catch radius. That's invaluable for a young quarterback.”

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google