EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Brian Daboll has confirmed what has been obvious for the last four or so months. He is going to call the offensive plays for the New York Giants this season.
The third-year head coach acknowledged Tuesday that he is replacing offensive coordinator Mike Kafka when it comes to determining what plays Daniel Jones runs. Daboll called the plays in the preseason and the minicamps.
The role is nothing new to Daboll. He called the plays in Buffalo as its offensive coordinator before taking the Giants job in 2022. It was Daboll’s first shot as a head coach, and he gave Kafka, who had worked under Andy Reid in Kansas City, the job of running the offense.
While the Giants made the playoffs in that first season with a 9-7-1 record, the offense was horrible last year and New York slipped to 6-11. Jones was limited to six games by neck and knee injuries.
The pressure has been ramped up for Daboll going into his third season, and he decided to take over the offense in games. Kakfa and the offensive coaches combine to draw up the game plan.
Daboll refused to say specifically why he made the change. He said he is focused on preparing for Sunday’s opener against the Minnesota Vikings, who missed the playoffs last season with a 7-10 record.
“We’ve talked about this before,” Daboll said. “Almost everybody in the league does it that’s an offensive head coach.”
If the preseason was any indication, the Giants (6-11) will try to go deep more with their passing game, especially with the addition of first-round draft pick Malik Nabers to a speedy receiving corps that also includes Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Jones, who came back quickly from an ACL injury in early November, said he has spoken with Daboll a lot over the past two-plus seasons.
The quarterback said every play-caller approaches the game differently, but he said there are a lot of similarities between Daboll and Kafka. He added Daboll has shown the ability to adapt to what the team does best, what the defense is doing and how best to attack it.
“I think it’s just getting used to hearing another voice in the helmet and understanding how he sees the game,” Jones said.
Kafka, who was promoted to assistant head coach, offensive coordinator after last season, has deferred to Daboll all summer when asked whether he would be calling plays again.
Tight end Daniel Bellinger said Daboll is creative in calling plays, saying he is willing to mix and match things at a moment’s notice. In some sense, he does not follow a script.
Facing the Vikings on Sunday, Daboll and the offense will see a pressure defense from coordinator Brian Flores. There probably will be eight-man fronts and a lot of single coverage for the Giants to exploit, if the new line provides time for Jones to throw. New York quarterbacks were sacked a franchise-record 85 times last year.
New right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor said he has faced defenses led by Flores.
“I think the way you slow down pressure is by throwing it on them and make them get out of those certain packages and our receivers will do it,” Eluemunor said. “But then we have to be able to protect and have the time you need to throw it downfield. But usually the way to stop the blitz is to be able to throw the ball in the air.”
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