As far-fetched as it sounded when the chatter first started, it’s beginning to feel very real that John Harbaugh could be headed to the New York Giants after his split with the Baltimore Ravens. A coach with Harbaugh’s resume landing in New York would be welcome news almost across the board – except, perhaps, for Giants’ running back Cam Skattebo.

If you’re trying to read the tea leaves, all you really have to do is look at how this past season played out for Derrick Henry in Baltimore. It was yet another January disappointment for the Ravens, this time failing to even make it to January. They finished 8-9 and lost out on the playoffs after Tyler Loop’s missed field goal in the last game of the season against division rivals Pittsburgh Steelers.

Plenty went wrong over the course of the year, but one of the few constants was Henry. Even with a couple of costly fumbles mixed in, he was still the one player consistently creating something out of nothing. And yet, his role and how he was used are exactly the parts that should give Skattebo something to worry about.

Henry, now 32, still looked very much like an All-Pro. He finished the season with 1,595 rushing yards on 307 carries and scored 16 touchdowns. The production was there. What wasn’t always there was the workload, even in games where the passing game sputtered.

Take the Thanksgiving loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. On the opening drive, Henry ripped off a 28-yard touchdown run to cap a crisp seven-play march. After that, he was barely part of the plan. He ended the day with just 10 carries for 60 yards and a score, plus one 44-yard catch-and-run, all while playing only about 40 percent of the snaps.

After that game, even veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley made it known that Baltimore needed to lean back into the run and reestablish it as the team’s see-it, feel-it identity. Harbaugh didn’t. The Ravens lost 32–14. At the time, it felt like an isolated decision, but it wasn’t.

The same pattern showed up again in Week 16 against the New England Patriots. With 12:50 left in the fourth quarter, Henry punched in a 2-yard touchdown to push the Ravens ahead 24–13. Baltimore still had two more possessions coming. Henry never touched the ball again.

The Ravens ran eight offensive plays the rest of the way, one drive protecting a three-point lead, another chasing the game down four with just over two minutes left. Henry was on the sideline for all of it. That night, he had already piled up 18 carries for 128 yards and had been a constant problem for New England’s defense.

Watching him disappear at the most important moment was baffling. Will the same thing happen in New York?

Has John Harbaugh learned his lesson?

It was pretty obvious he didn’t fully adjust after Thanksgiving. Even so, by his own admission, John Harbaugh later conceded that Derrick Henry probably should have been on the field for that final drive against New England.

“Looking back, would I rather have had Derrick starting the drive? Yes. But Derrick was kind of ready for Keaton to start that drive. And then he was planning on coming in next. So, they were working that rotation,” Harbaugh accepted.

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That explanation is fair enough, but explanations don’t change outcomes. The Ravens’ season is over, and it’s hard not to wonder if things look different today had Henry been out there when it mattered most. Maybe Baltimore is still playing in the postseason.

That’s where the parallel to Cam Skattebo comes in. Like Henry in Baltimore, Skattebo was one of the few steady positives for his team. He wrapped up his 2025 season with 410 rushing yards on 101 carries and five touchdowns, adding 24 catches for 207 yards and two more scores.

This production happened in just eight games. Alongside Jaxson Dart, he helped give the offense some shape and rhythm when not much else was working.

Now, all signs point to the New York Giants moving closer to naming John Harbaugh their next head coach. However, according to ESPN, the Giants are trending toward finalizing a deal after a Wednesday meeting with their top candidate. If Harbaugh does land the job, the challenge will be to use the talent properly, because there’s going to be a lot of it.

There’s real potential here. Once Skattebo, Dart, and wide receiver Malik Nabers (coming off a torn ACL) are all on the field together, the Giants suddenly have a young, intriguing offensive core. Add in the fact that New York holds the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the pieces are there.

If he’s learned anything from how the Henry situation unfolded, getting the most out of his offensive weapons, especially Skattebo, could go a long way toward setting the tone in New York.