Wide receiver Kenny Golladay was the New York Giants‘ major splash-signing in the 2021 free agency period. Big expectations were set for the former Detroit Lions wide receiver as the Giants handed him a contract worth $18 million on average annually. Unfortunately, Golladay failed to meet those expectations in a tumultuous 2021 regular season. Entering the 2022 season, the Giants are hoping for their number one receiver to bounce back in a major way.
Going deep with Kenny G
Kenny Golladay was once looked at as a true alpha dog wide receiver. In 2019 with the Detroit Lions, Golladay led the NFL in receiving touchdowns. But in 2021, KennyG did not manage to score a single touchdown. During his time in Detroit, Golladay was also considered one of the best deep receiving threats in the league. The Giants, however, failed to utilize this aspect of Kenny Golladay’s skillset. If the Giants want to get the most out of Kenny Golladay in 2021, they need to give him more deep targets.
Kenny Golladay received only 14 targets on passes of 20+ yards in 2021. This made up only 18% of Golladay’s targets. Comparatively, in 2019, Kenny received 36 deep targets which made up 32% of his targets. His 628 yards on deep passes ranked second in the league in 2019 (PFF).
Entering the 2021 season, PFF ranked Kenny Golladay as the third-best deep receiving threat in the NFL. Golladay also ranked fourth among NFL wide receivers in deep receiving yards from 2018 to 2020 and was just nine yards behind third-place despite playing in only 5 games in 2020.
Kenny Golladay was a Pro Bowl selection in 2019 after he led the NFL with 11 receiving touchdowns to go along with an impressive 1,190 receiving yards on 65 receptions. Golladay topped one thousand receiving yards in back-to-back seasons (2018-2019), establishing himself as one of the top receivers in the league. Injuries and coaching were a factor, but Kenny Golladay was a complete disappointment in 2021. He is in desperate need of a bounce-back campaign and if the New York Giants want to enable him to have one, they need to let him go deep.