Giants Offense Hopes to Explode on NFL Scene in 2023

The New York Giants have a lot of goals in mind for the upcoming NFL season, one of which is to put all that speed added in the offense to good use in moving the chains.

And for the Giants, the reality is that there's nowhere to go but up in explosive pass plays of 20+ yards. Last year, the Giants famously ranked dead last in such plays with 28, three less than their 31 explosive plays (also dead last) from the 2021 season.

While taking deep shots down the field on every play is not practical, the coaching staff and players hope to have more opportunities that may haven't been there in years past.

“We obviously were down, last, in explosive plays," Daboll said, acknowledging the team's struggles in that department. "You do a lot of research in the offseason. There are plays you call to be explosive that maybe don’t turn out that way relative to how they are getting played. You can’t just focus on one area."

To his credit, Daboll has been very good about taking some of the pressure off quarterback Daniel Jones to be perfect in practice. His approach, unlike that of his predecessor, is to use parts of practice to experiment to see how something looks rather than to stress the safe stuff that the coaches know Jones and company can execute.

"It is certainly an area we need to improve on, that we will try to improve on, but I never want Daniel to force any ball," Daboll said. "Will there be times when I might go to him and say, ‘Let this thing rip’? If it gets picked, I don’t care. It gets intercepted in practice; let’s look at how it looks.”

Darius Slayton, who led the Giants receivers in explosive plays of 20+ yards last season with 12 in addition to leading the team in receiving yards (724), agrees with his head coach's perspective.

“I think you definitely have to take those shots in practice from time to time and make those plays," he said. "It’s quarterback, receiver, hand in hand. Not every ball will be perfect--sometimes you’re going to have to go get it, but also just getting that timing down. Everybody’s different, and everybody has different strengths, but I think you have to take those shots in practice for them to show up in the game.”

Part of the problem for the Giants last year stemmed from inconsistent pass protection. Jones was sacked 41 times, the fifth most among quarterbacks in 2022. And it wouldn't be surprising if some of those 41 sacks came on plays meant to go down the field.

This year, the Giants are hoping they've fixed the leaks in pass protection, and with the talent added to the team--tight end Darren Waller and receivers Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt--the hope is that the Giants will be in a better position to succeed in creating explosive plays.

Waller and Campbell are two players that can create more explosive plays on offense. Waller had nine catches of 20+ yards in nine games last season, while Campbell had seven.

“Darren’s a locomotive rolling real fast--ain’t nobody tackling that," Slayton said. "I think him and Parris add another explosive element. But also, just (the) ability to catch the ball and run with it and break tackles, they’re both strong guys, so I think they bring a good dynamic to our room.".

The Giants know what they need to do to become an explosive offense. The new additions, the return of Saquon Barkley, and year two in the Daboll-Kafka system will certainly make the Giants offense look very different from last year.

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
Sign up for our FREE message board forums
Connect with us via text alerts! Free 14 Day Trial!