John Harbaugh‘s mission is to completely overhaul the New York Giants and he’s been doing it so far. One of his moves was to bring Matt Nagy as the new offensive coordinator. Hence, players have to adjust, and one of the ones facing more pressure is center John Michael Schmitz.
Schmitz was a second round pick in 2023, and has not delivered as expected. However, he had an average season in 2025, but now that Harbaugh and Nagy are in the building, he is having to adjust once again.
Per Dan Duggan of The Athletic, “The centers pulled a lot during drills early in practice. It makes sense that’s a featured part of the offense considering Harbaugh had the athletic Tyler Linderbaum at center for the past four seasons. It will be interesting to see whether Schmitz can thrive in this scheme,” noted Duggan.
Harbaugh is looking for one thing only
The Giants want to run the ball. Plain and simple, Harbaugh likes to put a modern twist but in an old school football scheme. He likes running the football, and for that, his offensive line must be agile, mobile but very strong.
In fact, Nagy was not the only hire, as Harbaugh hired Mike Bloomgren to be the offensive line coach. The Giants also drafted Francis Mauigoa to add explosiveness to their offensive line. Things are changing and players must adapt or they will be let go.
The running backs also have to deliver
Cam Skattebo was having a great rookie season, but a season-ending ankle injury is now putting doubts over his sophomore season. He must play great. Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary must do their part too because the Giants want to stay ahead of the chains.
Hence, establishing the run is imperative. That also allows quarterback Jaxson Dart to play more freely and avoid running himself. He can take more care of himself while having plenty of support.
