The New York Giants are entering the 2022 NFL season with a brand new coaching staff. Brian Daboll is taking over as the new head coach after spending 2018-2021 as the Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator. Daboll sat down today for an interview with the Tiki and Tierney Show on WFAN and discussed his upcoming first season as the Giants’ head coach. When asked about his quarterback, Daniel Jones, Brian Daboll gave a hint as to what the future could hold.
Brian Daboll wants to see a more aggressive Daniel Jones
In this interview with Tiki and Tierney, Brian Daboll had this to say of quarterback Daniel Jones:
“I want him to be himself and not be afraid of consequences, pull the trigger and attack.” – Brian Daboll on what he wants to see out of Daniel Jones this season
Only 6.6% of Daniel Jones’s passes traveled more than 20 yards downfield in the 2021 season. Former offensive coordinator Jason Garrett rarely utilized Jones’s ability to throw the football downfield despite the acquisition of Kenny Golladay, one of the NFL’s best deep-threats entering last season.
Jones connected on 8 of his 24 deep passing attempts, scoring 4 touchdowns in the process. Since 2020, Daniel Jones has been an efficient downfield passer. Two seasons ago, Daniel Jones posted a 95.6 Deep Passing Grade according to PFF as he completed 20 of 43 deep attempts and threw 6 touchdown passes with 0 interceptions.
After posting such an impressive deep-passing stat-line in 2020, fans expected Daniel Jones to throw the ball downfield more frequently in 2021. Instead, the opposite happened. Daniel Jones threw 19 fewer deep passes and the Giants’ offense was inept all year long. This will hopefully change under Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka’s new offensive scheme.
The Buffalo Bills (Brian Daboll’s former offense) and Kansas City Chiefs (Mike Kafka’s former offense) both threw the ball deep at a high rate last season. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw 87 passes 20+ yards downfield. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw 76 deep passes. These two quarterbacks were some of the highest-graded and most productive deep passers in the NFL.
The New York Giants need to jumpstart their offense. Brian Daboll is inevitably going to call more deep shots this season. It is now on Daniel Jones to be the aggressive quarterback his head coach wants him to be and lead the Giants’ offense to success.