Offense has been one of the largest problems for the New York Giants in recent years, but there’s some signs pointing to that turning around. The Giants under Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll have wisely turned to one of the league’s best offenses for their new offensive coordinator, picking Chiefs QBs coach and passing game coordinator Mike Kafka.
Sometimes, candidates from teams like the Chiefs are in demand simply for being a part of a winning organization. Arguably, the Giants fell into that trap when they hired Joe Judge with his Patriots influence playing a part in the decision. It doesn’t look like Kafka, though, is one of those coaches. If you ask some of the star players that have played under him, they’ll tell you that he’s getting this job on his own merits.
Travis Kelce has glowing review of Mike Kafka
“The New York Giants got an absolute stud,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “You’re gonna be prepared. You’re never gonna feel like you don’t have an upper hand against the opponent, and that’s something you don’t get throughout the league with every offensive coordinator.”
Coming from one of the most successful tight ends in today’s NFL, that’s high praise. Kelce, after all, would have plenty of experience working with Kafka due to the latter’s position as passing game coordinator. During both seasons where Kafka was passing game coordinator, Kelce was named to the first or second All-Pro team.
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire claims Kafka had a larger role in the Chiefs offense than many might think.
“Man, he had pretty much the whole control of our motor, bro — he was in the room with Patrick Mahomes,” Edwards-Helaire said. “Kafka, he was one of those guys that kept everything together.”
The Giants have largely underachieved on offense with the talent they currently have, so it will be quite interesting to see how things work out when players like Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay are finally playing under an innovative coordinator.
At the very least, it should be a far cry from how the offense performed under Jason Garrett.