Brian Daboll's Surprising Rank on Fourth Down Aggressiveness

A new study by Football Outsiders reveals the Giants weren't as bold on fourth downs--but with good reason.

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll brought winning back to the franchise and showed a bit more fearlessness when it came to being aggressive in select spots.

More often than not, that aggressiveness paid off for the Giants, who finished with a 9-7-1 record, their first winning campaign since 2016 and a campaign done despite injuries and talent deficiencies in certain position units.

Recently, Football Outsiders looked at the aggressiveness of all 32 NFL head coaches, which measured how often coaches went for it on fourth down compared to the normal expectations.

Daboll finished 25th in the rankings with a 0.74 aggressive index, meaning he went for it on just seven of 106 opportunities.

A closer look at the decisions made by Daboll might reveal why he had such a low ranking. According to league stats and specific to the regular season, the Giants didn't have as many fourth-and-short-yardage situations to attempt. 

However, on those that they did have, they converted 87 percent of their 4th-and-1 situations but only 25 percent of their 4th-and-2 scenarios.

At the top of the pack were Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni (1.57), Dolphins head coach Josh McDaniel (1.52), and Falcons head coach Arthur Smith (1.51).

Robert Saleh of the Jets had the lowest aggressive ranking.

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