‘4 Downs’ with Rich: the New York Giants’ Biggest Questions Heading into the 2026 NFL Season

The fifth installment of Four Downs lands on the New York Football Giants, and the first question Rich asked is the one that decides everything else.

Will Jaxson Dart take care of himself better? Period. End of story.

Rich believes John Harbaugh has already sat him down and explained the distinction. "You're the quarterback of the Big Blue, not the quarterback in the Big Blue tent." Last year at the podium, Dart said this is the way he has always played and the way he is always going to play. This year he sounded like a quarterback who understands you can slide and still be aggressive, that using your legs can still be part of what makes you great.

The bottom line is unglamorous and non-negotiable. If you want to be great, you have to be out there.

Rich is also not over the hit against New England. Dart had already been blown up several times before that one, and he went and did it again.

Second down goes to the supporting cast, and it is also an injury question. Do Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo look like themselves again?

Nabers is coming back from the knee, and Rich noted the whispers that the repair did not go entirely without issue. Skattebo is coming back from what Rich's friend Mr. Garvey memorably called a leg shattering on this program, though Skattebo told the show a couple of months ago that he was on track.

Rich's verdict on both is the same. Nabers is the clear number one receiver if he is healthy. Skattebo is the clear number one back if he is healthy. Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary are still there, but those two are the answer.

Third down is the one that comes with a nickname. Can the defense improve without sexy Dexy?

Rich acknowledged Dexter Lawrence was having an off year, then immediately defended him. He is still Dexter Lawrence. Take him out of the middle and that is a real subtraction, and Cincinnati now gets to find out what they have.

What the Giants added is size. Tremaine Edmunds arrives at right inside linebacker, and D.J. Reader is the nose tackle Rich expects people to be talking about. Add Abdul Carter in year two, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux off the edge, and the front looks completely remade.

Better? Rich called it a shrug emoji. We will see.

Fourth down is the interesting one, and it has nothing to do with personnel. How does Harbaugh remake the Giants in his own image?

Here is the fact that frames it. The Giants have never hired a head coach who already had a Super Bowl ring. Bill Parcells won his there. Tom Coughlin won his there. Neither walked in the door with one. Harbaugh does.

Everything about the hire suggested unusual leverage. It took a while for the paperwork to get finished, and the read around it was that the Mara and Tisch families gave him powers no previous coach has been given. How that manifests is the part nobody outside the building can see yet.

Rich also flagged the reported friction involving Dart and Carter over a local appearance, and whether it means anything once the season starts.

The Giants have not had this before. Not with Brian Daboll, who was a first-time head coach. Not with Joe Judge or Pat Shurmur. This time, as Rich put it, Giants fans feel like they finally have an adult in the room.

Does that mean more wins? Harbaugh's brother has plussed up every team he has walked into. John has not gone anywhere new in a long time.