Giants preparing for major playbook changes with Jameis Winston leading offense: We know who he is
The time for the jokes between Matt Nagy and Jameis Winston about his 30-touchdown, 30-interception season is over. Winston is no longer the Giants’ tension-breaking backup quarterback.With Jaxson Dart sidelined for the season and headed for knee surgery, Winston is the starter for whom Nagy is calling plays, meaning a revision of the playbook is underway ahead of Sunday’s game against the Titans. Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.
“The biggest thing is, when we first got started, we wanted to be prepared to have multiple styles of offense,” Nagy said.“So, if something like this does happen, it doesn’t put you in a hole where it changes everything.” Some degree of change is unavoidable. Goodbye to Dart’s RPOs and play-extending scrambling.
Hello to Winston’s strong arm and maybe more deep throws like the why-not chucks to Malik Nabers and Malachi Fields (both incompletions) against the Rams when his first reads were covered. Unlike some teams with similar-style backups — the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on the mobile end of the spectrum, and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Joe Flacco on the pocket end — the Giants paired an odd couple. “There might be a couple concepts where you are able to do some different things to his strengths,” Nagy said.“Thank God he’s been here for all OTAs and training camp.
Calling a play, understanding why a play is in, his eyes go where our eyes go.He has his strengths on certain routes that he throws.
Maybe he does it slightly better than Jaxson, maybe he doesn’t.” Winston is 11 years removed from being the No.1 pick in the draft and seven years removed from leading the league in passing yards (5,109) and interceptions (30) to go with 33 touchdowns for the 2019 Buccaneers.
He has made just 19 starts (8-11) since the Buccaneers replaced him with a free agent named Tom Brady — but has 26 interceptions an...