Giants Taking This Approach Regarding Designed Quarterback Runs
The New York Giants have a dual-threat quarterback in Daniel Jones, who ran for career highs in rushing yards (708) and touchdowns (7) last year.
But as much as Jones’s legs are an asset on offense, running him 120 times (64 of which were designed runs) carries a degree of risk that the coaching staff must balance when game-planning every week.
Jones, remember, has an injury history, his injuries coming when he’s tried to run with the ball. While he was lucky enough to avoid injury last year, the odds don’t favor him to mount an Eli Manning iron-man streak if Jones is going to continue using his legs.
Jones, for his part, doesn’t seem to mind the risk that comes with him being accounted for in the offense.
"I think we just want to win games, score points, and win games." he said, "However we do that, I don't think any of us care too much about that. Using my legs or throwing the ball downfield. However, it comes, I think we are just trying to score points and be as effective as we can as a group."
That said, Jones has done off-season work to ensure he’s as best equipped as possible to withstand the punishment of getting hit by linebackers who are on par with him size-wise. He confirmed that he added more weight and worked on improving his strength in the off-season and his footspeed.
Despite these precautions, Jones is at risk every time he breaks the sanctuary of the pocket for daylight in front of him.
That said, don’t expect the Giants coaching staff to shy away from deploying every potential asset they have to win games. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, who in the past has acknowledged the need for balancing designed runs with being smart, said the plan for Jones will vary from week to week based on the opponent.
“Each week, we're going to have to decide how we want to handle that based on how they present their defensive structure," he said. "So, some weeks, maybe a little bit more. Some weeks, maybe a little bit less. Then, depending on how the game goes and their adjustments are in-game, we have to be able to adjust."
Having Jones as a runner gives the opposing defense another threat to account for. That, in turn, can take some of the onus off Saquon Barkley. But the Giants, whose offensive production mostly came on the legs of both Barkley and Jones, have some new offensive weapons, such as tight end Darren Waller and receivers Jalin Hyatt and Parris Campbell, to help further open things up and reduce any dependence strictly on the running game.
To make sure he can capitalize on connecting with his new (as well as his returning) weapons in the passing game, Jones confirmed that he continued his work on polishing his off-platform throws and using different arm angles to reach his targets, the results of which have shown up this summer.
“That's part of my training and stuff I focus on every offseason,” he said. “Yeah, maybe a couple more opportunities to do it and a couple of newer drills I've tried to incorporate. But that's probably part of my training every offseason.”
- Get the latest breaking news and analysis on the New York Giants
- Follow and like us on Facebook
- Submit your questions for our mailbag
- Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.
- Subscribe and like the LockedOn Giants YouTube Channel
