The New York Giants could be making a major change to the way they run their offense this summer. Over the past two years, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka has been the team’s play-caller on offense. However, that seems likely to change the season as head coach Brian Daboll is taking over the playcalling duties at the start of training camp.
Brian Daboll is opening training camp as the offense’s play-caller
Now Daboll confirmed that he is indeed opening training camp as the play-caller on offense, per Connor Hughes of SNY. As the Giants kick off their first practice of the summer on Wednesday morning, the head coach is taking over more control of the offense.
However, Daboll also clarified that no final decision on who will be the regular season’s play-caller has been made, and won’t be made until the end of the summer.
The Giants have plenty of time to make a final play-calling decision
Training camp is practice, not just for the players, but also for the coaches. Daboll has the entire summer of practices and preseason games to toy with the idea of being the offense’s play-caller. By the end of the summer, he could very well decide that the responsibilities should be reverted back to Kafka. Or he could decide that calling plays himself is in the best interest of the team.
Daboll began toying with the idea of being the Giants’ play-caller last season. It was speculated that Daboll took over the play-calling duties in the second half of the team’s Week 2 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. Down in a deep hole after the first half, the team charged back in the second half to complete a come-from-behind win on the road. The most notable change coming out of the half-time break, however, came on the sidelines.
Daboll was spotted covering his mouth with his playsheet and observed being far more vocal on the headset throughout the second half of the game, leaving many to conclude that he took over the play-calling duties. While unconfirmed, that was the general assumption.
It was then later reported by Pat Leonard of NY Daily News that Daboll had stripped Kafka of his play-calling duties on more than one occasion throughout the course of the regular season. Quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney reportedly took over as the offense’s play-caller at one point.
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Daboll calling plays could be the key to fixing the Giants’ broken offense
Daboll earned his reputation as one of the best offensive coordinators and play-callers in the NFL during his time with the Buffalo Bills from 2018 to 2021 before being hired as Big Blue’s head coach. Since becoming the head coach of the Giants, Daboll has not served as the team’s play-caller, despite his pedigree in that role. But that seems likely to change.
This summer, Daboll will serve as the offense’s play-caller, foreshadowing a likely change in the upcoming regular season. It seems increasingly likely that Daboll will take over play-calling duties as the Giants look to fix their offense that was utterly broken during the 2023 regular season.
In 2023, the Giants’ offense ranked 29th in the NFL with 280.0 total yards per game and ranked 30th in the NFL with 15.6 points per game. Both of these metrics need to see massive improvements in 2024 if the Giants want to win more football games. Making Daboll the play-caller could be the key to fixing the offense.
