Giants Will Experiment With New Looks on Offense

And at the center of the new looks is tight end Darren Waller.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Mar 31, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

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New York Giants tight end Darren Waller will turn 31 on his next birthday and has been around the NFL for eight seasons, making him an established player.

But for the Giants, who are looking to open things up on offense by adding a little more firepower, Waller's skillset represents a new toy for head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to enjoy as they look to take the Giants offense to the next level.

"Darren is a good football player," DAboll said during the league meetings this week. "You know, I'm happy that we traded for him, but again, to get him into our system to let him see how he processes our calls to get him out on the field to read his body language. He's been a very talented player in the league. Happy we have him and looking forward to working with him."

Since acquiring Waller via trade with the Raiders, who received the second of the Giants' third-round picks (No. 100 overall), there is a widespread belief that the veteran tight end can be the No. 1 receiver the team has been looking for in its passing game.

Indeed, Waller's versatility, when healthy, lends itself to all types of creative options for Daboll and Kafka. During his career, Waller spent 31.7% of his snaps in the slot, 23.1% out wide, and 44.6% inline, giving past teams options in the passing game.

That versatility is expected to continue with the Giants, according to Daboll.

"I think whatever we feel is best for him and our team, that's what we'll try to do," Daboll said, adding that the team plans to experiment with different looks this spring once the OTAs open.

Waller, in fact, projects as the team's No. 1 receiver, which would be a benefit in numerous ways. Thanks to his size and physicality, he can create mismatches depending on where he lines up.

More importantly, if he rebounds from two injury-filled seasons, the hope is that Waller will draw coverage over the middle, opening things up on the outside for the smaller receivers to do some damage underneath.

"I think that's your job as a coaching staff is to figure out who you have and move the pieces around and, you know, go out there and play with the guys you have," Daboll said.

"You can have a lot of different personnel groups that you use throughout the year. Some were tight-end base, some were receiver-based. You know, there were times last year we used three running backs.

"We're going to figure all that out."