Giants Have Something "Special" with One-time Beleaguered Unit
Once upon a time, the Giants special teams unit, to borrow a frequently used cliche in football, wasn’t very special. The return game was even worse.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Giants special teams ranked dead last by the end of the 2017 season, falling from its 10th place finish the year prior.
All that has changed, however, under Thomas McGaughey, who is in his second tour of duty coaching the Giants special teams--he served as former special teams coordinator Tom Quinn’s assistant during the 2007-10 seasons before heading back to the college ranks with LSU for three seasons and then back to the NFL where he made stops with the Jets, 49ers, and Panthers.
These days, McGaughey, assisted by Anthony Blevins, has the Giants special teams ranked at the top of the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.
Through four weeks, the Giants special teams are ranked as follows:
- Fifth in punt return average (10.3 yards per return)
- Tied for sixth (with several other teams) in kickoff returns allowed with three
- Second in fewest kickoff return yards allowed (12.3 per return)
- Second in net punting yards average (46.8)
- Eighth with nine punts placed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line
- Tied for eighth place for fewest punt return yards allowed (21)
The catalyst for the significant swing in the special teams’ performance bean with general manager Dave Gettleman placing more of an emphasis on core special teams players who also have value at their respective positions.
For example, before the Giants played in their first regular-season game, Gettleman put in a successful waiver claim for receiver Cody Core, who, with the Bengals was better known for his special teams play.
Core, who leads the Giants with four special teams tackles, has been a part of every team unit and is currently their top-graded special teams performer according to Pro Football Focus, and is the 13th highest graded special teams player in the league
“Cody doesn’t say two words; he comes in, and he just does his job, and he does it very well,” McGaughey said.
“He plays hard, he’s physical, and he has really good awareness for the special teams area. As a receiver, he’s solid, but where he excels is covering kicks, and he’s also an excellent blocker. He’s just a great teammate.”
Others who have brought an instant upgrade to the Giants special teams include safety Michael Thomas, one of the unit’s two co-captains (long snapper Zak DeOssie being the other); cornerback Antonio Hamilton; and linebacker Nathan Stupar.
Even the rookies have been pitching in. Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence already has one blocked field goal attempt, that coming two weeks ago in Tampa Bay, and came close to getting another one earlier in the season.
Fellow rookies like edge Oshane Ximines and defensive back Corey Ballentine have also brought some moxie to the special teams units while long-snapper Zak DeOssie, the graybeard of the bunch, continues to look spry covering punts.
And don’t forget kicker Aldrick Rosas and Riley Dixon. Rosas struggled through his first NFL season in 2017, finishing last in field goal conversion percentage.
But the Giants liked what they saw in his strong leg, and his fearlessness in mixing things up as a tackler if needed, and their faith was rewarded last season when Rosas turned in a Pro Bowl season.
Dixon, acquired in a trade with Denver for a conditional seventh-round draft pick on April 23, 2018, had some consistency issues in his first season with the Giants.
Since training camp ended, Dixon has come out of the game swinging a mighty strong leg in helping his coverage team have sufficient time to get down the field to make the plays necessary to help the Giants win the average starting field position battle.
This week, the Giants special teams unit is at a bit of a crossroads at punt returner. The team waived TJ Jones, whose 12.0 yards per return was part of an overall 10.3 yards per return team average, good enough to be ranked fifth overall in the NFL.
Jones, however, also had issues with ball security, muffing two punts last week, and having some issues the week prior.
Moving forward, the Giants list receiver Golden Tate, who this week was reinstated after serving his four-game suspension, as their top punt returner going into this weekend’s game against the Vikings.
Safety Jabrill Peppers is also an option, but with Peppers usually on the field for all the defensive snaps, he would appear to be one McGaughey might use sparingly.
The Giants could also look to expand the role of Ballentine, their primary kickoff returner whose 21.6-yard average currently ranks 21st in the league. Ballentine doesn’t have much in-game experience with kickoff returns at the college or NFL levels but said that he’s practiced fielding punts.
“That’s one of the toughest skills to have in the National Football League, to be a punt returner, to be able to see the ball off the foot and see where the gunner is, see where the coverage is, and then to be able to catch it and go make a play,” McGaughey said.
Ballentine said he likes a challenge and would be open to returning punts if the coaches asked him to.
“I practice it every day, and I’ll get maybe, maybe ten catches in a day, and they’re all different.”
Ballentine, who said he’d welcome an expanded role to contribute on punts, hopes that the practice ultimately pays off for him.
“It’s something that just comes with reps,” he said. “The more reps you take, the more things you see. I think you get better at reading the way the ball is going to go, and tracking the ball, I think gets better as time goes on.”
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