The New York Giants lost one of their targets for offensive coordinator when Todd Monken took the job as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. The 59-year-old had previously been the heavy favorite to take the OC job due to his strong connections with John Harbaugh and wanting to develop rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.

With Monken off the table, New York is now forced to pivot to other options, which previously included Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, who was promoted to offensive coordinator recently. They’ve also been linked to Charlie Weis Jr., the son of Charlie Weis Sr. who coached under Bill Parcells with the Giants in the 90s, and who helped develop Dart at Ole Miss.

One name stands out among the others, just like Harbaugh was the stand-out option for the entire coaching cycle when he was fired from Baltimore: Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. There are a thousand reasons why this is also the big no-brainer the Giants must get to turn their fortunes around and construct a winning culture.

My Hottest Take: Kingsbury Brings A Fresh Perspective To The Offense

Since 2022, per Football Reference, the Giants have run a specific offensive scheme called the “Erhardt-Perkins” offense. It’s a different form of the offense from their four years of running the “Air Coryell” offense, which focused on formations and shifts at the line with a heavy deep-ball tendency.

The Erhardt-Perkins offense, per Big Blue View, was formed under Charlie Weis Sr. (the same one as above), and under Bill Belichick, by taking the philosophies of Patriots offensive assistants Ron Erhardt and Ray Perkins and combining them. This philosophy follows a “Pass to score, run to win” theme that centered around running the ball and not using major deep-ball threats, along with utilizing players in several ways from passing to running and blocking. This worked with Saquon Barkley in the backfield when the team had few reliable receivers, but it was limited and further regressed with issues to the offensive line. Plus, Daniel Jones outright struggled in that scheme.

Kingsbury and the Commanders, per Football Reference, employ the “Spread” offense instead of those the Giants ran for the last decade. The spread offense gets its name from putting in extra receivers and backs to force the defense to “spread” its coverage across the field. In the best offenses, it would allow for quick passes on blitzes, deep balls to receivers, or hefty runs if holes emerge via the offensive lines.

The Giants have never tried anything in terms of the spread offense, which could work for them given their deep-ball threat in Malik Nabers and their powerhouse back in Cam Skattebo. Dart matters a lot here, since he worked with a fast-paced spread offense with Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. He could be more comfortable here if he’s familiar with spreads. Kingsbury offers that.

What You Need To Know: The Spread Worked For Washington, Until Injuries Hit

Most fans would argue that Washington’s offense is bad now due to a lack of a run game and no big-time receiver threats. The argument fits for the running game, which consists of rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Chris Rodriguez, a pure running back-by-committee.

As for the passing offense, remember that Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin, the team's prime duo, both suffered long-term injuries during the season that caused them to miss several games. McLaurin started in only 10 games and never found synchronization with Marcus Mariota. Daniels was out for more than half the season with hamstring and elbow injuries. When they were healthy in 2024, the team went to the NFC Championship.

That year, the team went 12-5 and had the fifth-ranked offense in the entire league with 485 points scored. They also had an arguably better running back duo in Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler, plus the playbook allowed for Daniels to scramble for 891 yards. 400+ yard games for the team were common, along with scoring 30 or more points per game, even shutting down the Detroit Lions on the road in the divisional round.

The spread offense allowed for Washington to utilize the quarterback as the main weapon with the running backs and wide receivers as assets. When a quarterback is healthy and ready to roll, there is high upside here.

Before You Go: Giants Must Avoid West Coast Coordinators

The last time the Giants instituted the West Coast offense was in 2019, where the team continued to struggle with double-digit losing seasons between 2017 and 2021. The scheme worked at one point in 2016, when the Giants went to the wild card against the Green Bay Packers but lost. Since then, players have seen stunted development and a lack of performance under both the West Coast and Erhardt-Perkins systems. They’ve had a top-half offensem or 16th and above, only once in the last decade in terms of yardage.

It’s simply not working. They are putting the wrong players into the wrong systems and are executing it poorly. Nevermind the porous offensive lines or the lack of receivers that turn into major talent, there’s no way going back to the same strategy will be different this time. It might be best to avoid Brian Callahan’s West Coast scheme.