Until proven otherwise, the New York Giants will be the Dallas Cowboys' pesky little brother that just won't go away. Playing America's Team bi-annually is a futile effort for the GMen, who haven't beaten Dak Prescott since his rookie season in 2016. They are 0-16 when Prescott plays the whole game.
And yet every year, New York fans twist themselves into a pretzel to justify that this is the season in which they will take Dallas down. Admittedly, hiring John Harbaugh was a good start, and the Giants do have some promising young pieces. They won't be the doormat that they've been in recent years.
But they still have some serious issues to address and questions to answer, one of which is how to protect Jaxson Dart and build an effective run game around him that isn't reliant on, well, unreliable players.
Their recent signing of Najee Harris does nothing to dispel these very real concerns.
Cowboys shouldn't be worried at all about Giants' Najee Harris signing
Outside of Javonte Williams, Dallas has some running back concerns of their own. In terms of injuries and on the field performance, the Cowboys' running backs have struggled, with Malik Davis once again looking like the most feasible option to be the No. 2. Maybe we don't have a leg to stand on.
First, though, let's address some misconceptions about the Giants' offense. They finished fifth in total yards on the ground last season and fourth in rushing touchdowns. But they ran the ball more than every other team in the league but one, and they were 18th in yards per attempt. That's inefficient.
Their offensive line, which is the same as last year, outside of swapping veteran Greg Van Roten for rookie Francis Mauigoa, wasn't great at keeping their quarterbacks upright, either. They relinquished 48 sacks a season ago, which was tied for the ninth-most in the league. That is also quite concerning.
So, now, let's dive into how New York ended up signing Najee Harris to a one-year deal.
Cam Skattebo is a loose cannon coming off an injury, and his antics can make Giants front office members' hearts skip a beat. And Tyrone Tracy let Dart get rocked during the preseason opener by missing a block.
Although some New York reporters are denying that the Tracy block had anything to do with the Giants signing Harris, the timing is a bit weird. I'm sure John's brother, Jim, the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, put in a good word for Harris with the Giants, but he doesn't look like an upgrade.
Harris got hurt last summer in a freak accident on the Fourth of July before his lone campaign with the Chargers, which kept him out for quite a while. Then, he ruptured his Achilles in the third game of the season and is just now getting back to football almost a year later. That's a long time to be out.
Does Najee Harris even help the Giants?
While Harris was solid enough in Los Angeles last year, almost all of his snaps were siphoned by rookie Omarion Hampton, who wasn't even impressing in the early going. Before last season, Harris was a beacon of consistency, but last year saw a change of pace for him.
And if the Giants wanted a veteran back who can block, then perhaps Harris could be somewhat of an answer. In his first four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Harris was average to slightly below-average in this department. Last year, though, he turned in an awful 26.2 PFF pass blocking grade.
The biggest question I have for Giants fans that are enthralled with this addition is this: In what way does Harris really help this team? He's not a better runner than Skattebo or Tracy at this point, his pass blocking and receiving skills have always been marginal, and he's lost a step.
Sure, he bolsters the bottom of the running back room, but if Skattebo or Tracy go down, can Harris really be relied on as an every-down kind of back anymore? He couldn't beat out a rookie last year who underwhelmed in a lot of ways, and he's coming off a very serious injury for a 28-year-old.
Maybe I'll be forced to eat my words here, and the Harris signing transforms the Giants' offense.
But Cowboys fans should feel pretty confident that this late-stage addition won't solve NY's issues at the running back spot, and certainly not enough to tip the scales in Week 1 or at any other juncture.
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