The New York Giants haven’t been able to change their offense significantly since firing Jason Garrett. It’s just too late in the season to make a move like that, and the Giants are for the most part stuck with the same basic system until the offseason. With that being said, there’s still some advantages from making a change during the season at offensive coordinator.
While you aren’t going to see many NFL players publicly throw their coaches under the bus, you might get the idea from certain players’ statements that Garrett wasn’t the most popular coordinator. Not just because of the offense’s slow performance during his entire tenure, but because of a rigid system that didn’t seem to take much player input.
According to wide receiver Kenny Golladay, that’s a bit different under Freddie Kitchens.
Giants offense involving players more under Kitchens
“It’s huge. You can come over to the sideline and actually, since you’re the one out there running, you can actually tell them what you’re seeing,” Golladay said on Thursday, when asked about Kitchens taking more input. “It’s one thing running it on the field and a coach standing on the sideline trying to get all the way on the other side of the field. Just going in there and giving them
good information, and not giving them selfish information.”
Unfortunately, the change at offensive coordinator was made too late for the Giants to change things up significantly. They’re still running with the same playbook, the same terminology, and so on, as confirmed by coaches and players. But less rigid playcalling and more creativity may bring benefits through the rest of the season, even if the core of the offense remains the same.
Golladay has 372 yards and no touchdowns this season. It’s not the season that was expected from him after the Giants signed him to a big deal to become their number one weapon. While some of that is on Golladay, some of it also rests on Jason Garrett’s shoulders. The offensive coordinator is, after all, responsible for making use of the talent on hand.
It’s unclear how the rest of the season will go for Golladay. But from the looks of things, the receiver is more than a little satisfied with the decision to move on at OC.