4 Glaring Flaws the Giants Must Fix to Optimize Their Brand-New Offense in 2026

With a new coaching staff and power-running identity, New York's offense can chart a path to the top 10—but only if they can improve these glaring shortcomings.

New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and the offense have the potential to be a top NFL offense pending the outcome of four notable areas. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants will be fielding a much different-looking offense starting this season, one that should be more streamlined and which should put a little more emphasis on the power run game moving forward.

In 2025, Big Blue finished 17th in scoring with 381 points (22.4 per game). They probably should have won more than the four games they did, were it not for the defense collapsing five times.

A closer look shows that in the four games the Giants won, they averaged 30.8 points per game and held a 32:35 time-of-possession advantage. In the games they lost, they averaged 19.8 points per game and 29:52 in time of possession.  

All things considered, there is definitely room for the Giants to grow on offense, a process that started with some upgrades made in the passing game (receivers Malachi Fields, Darnell Mooney, and Calvin Austin, and tight end Isaiah Likely), and to the offensive line (Francis Mauigoa at right guard).

Add in the new coaching triumvirate of offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, senior offensive assistant Greg Roman, and quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Brian Callahan, and the hope is that the Giants offense, which finished 13th in the league (333.5 yards/game), will find its way into the top ten league-wide by the time the 2026 regular season comes to a close.

Here is our look at those areas where the Giants need to show significant improvement if they are to accomplish that goal of being a top-tier offense.

Better Red Zone Production

Getting to the red zone wasn’t a problem for New York; the problem was what they did when they got to the red zone.

The Giants scored 29 red-zone touchdowns last season, per NFL NextGen stats, 21st in the league. And the shorter the distance to go, the worse they did inside the red zone.

On plays in which the Giants needed 3-6 yards to go, they scored just seven touchdowns, 29th in the league. And on plays where they were between 1 and 2 yards out, they scored 12 touchdowns, 11th in the league.

And when it came to protection inside the red zone, that left something to be desired as well. On red-zone plays of 7+ yards until payday, the Giants gave up a 46.4% pressure rate, the third-worst mark in the league.

Clean Up Pre-snap Penalties

Nothing hurt the Giants worse in 2025 than pre-snap penalties. According to nflpenalties.com, the Giants averaged 3.18 pre-snap penalties per game, the worst mark in the NFL, and well above the league average of 2.36 penalties per game.

Speaking strictly of the offense, 40 penalties were pre-snap, with 26 false starts, tying the Giants for fifth in that category. And of their false starts, 12 stalled drives, according to official league statistics.

Suffice it to say that the Giants need to be much cleaner and more disciplined prior to the snap moving forward.

Jaxson Dart’s Year 2 Development

Jan 4, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) looks to pass during the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Giants' offense will go as second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart goes. And while Dart laid down a promising-looking rookie campaign, there are areas of growth that await him.

The most glaring is his ability to make better decisions on when to throw deep versus taking the check-down. Dart, per PFF, completed 32% of his pass attempts of 20+ air yards last season, which was 30th out of 33 quarterbacks who attempted a minimum of 25 deep passes.

Five of his deep pass attempts, in PFF’s review, qualified as a “turnover worthy play,” which tied him for 11th among the 33 quarterbacks in the sample.

Dart also averaged over three seconds to throw the ball, something that has undoubtedly been a focal point this spring, especially given that on 39.1% of the pressures he was under, he bore some responsibility.

Then there is the matter of Dart being smarter when he runs the ball. He told Giants fans at the team’s Town Hall event on Monday that he will look to be smarter in certain situations, though, adding that on money downs (third, fourth, and goal to go), he’s going for the brass ring.  

That might be easier said than done, given the competitive streak in Dart’s DNA, but if he shows more of a willingness to slide at the end of his runs rather than lowering his head and trying to knock someone over, there should be no reason not to keep designed runs for him in the playbook.

Turbocharging the Rushing Game

New York Giants running backs Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) and Devin Singletary (26) | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Giants finished with the league’s fifth-best rushing defense last season, averaging 129.1 yards per game on the ground.

But take away the contributions made by the quarterbacks, which helped to inflate that number, and any contributions from the receivers, and the ranking is very different.

Using league year-end stats for each team, the Giants running backs averaged 93.4 yards per game, which ranked 15th in the league.

This isn’t to say that the quarterbacks and receivers shouldn’t get a chance to contribute to the running game production, but when you have that big of a swing, that probably means you’re leaning a little too much into your quarterback to do the job of a running back, which means you’re putting that quarterback in harm’s way.

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