Why the New York Giants’ red zone offense will be much better in 2021

kyle rudolph, new york giants

The New York Giants have revamped their offense. In the 2021 offseason, New York did not hold back. The Giants made every move they could this offseason to upgrade the offensive side of the ball. They spent big in free agency with the signings of Kenny Golladay and Kyle Rudolph. They then doubled down in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft when they selected wide receiver Kadarius Toney 20th overall. The Giants made move after move dedicated to fixing their incompetent offense.

In 2020, the Giants had the second-worst ranked offense in the NFL. New York averaged only 17.5 points per game last season, a truly putrid number. One of the reasons why the Giants struggled so badly to put points up on the scoreboard was their inefficiency in the red zone. Their red zone scoring percentage ranked 31st in the league in 2020 at 46.34%. Time and time again, the Giants got into scoring range and failed to convert. NFL teams will not find great success without a competent red zone offense.

That is going to change in 2021. The New York Giants added a couple of top-tier red zone threats to their offense to fix their problems in the scoring zone. The Giants’ red zone offense will be much better in 2021 because of the signings of Kenny Golladay and Kyle Rudolph.

Kenny Golladay and Kyle Rudolph in the red zone

The New York Giants desperately needed an outside “X” receiver on their roster entering this offseason. The team was in need of a true WR1. They found that in Kenny Golladay. Golladay led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2019. He possesses a huge frame and makes his presence known down near the goal line. Kenny Golladay is a premiere red zone threat. According to PFF, the Giants’ new alpha dog is the highest-graded wide receiver on contested targets since 2019 (96.7). When Daniel Jones is in doubt, he can just throw it up to Kenny Golladay, and more often than not KennyG will come down with it.

Kyle Rudolph is arguably the most dependable tight end in the NFL. ‘Ole Reliable Rudolph dropped 1 pass on 167 targets from 2018 to 2020. He’s as sure-handed as NFL players get. Rudolph is durable, too, playing in 92 of 96 games since 2015 for the Vikings. Of Kyle Rudolph’s 48 career touchdown receptions, 40 of them — 83.3 percent — have come in the red zone (Paul Schwartz of the NY Post).

Kenny Golladay is the 6’4″ wide receiver that the Giants needed to fix their red zone offense. Kyle Rudolph at 6’6″ also has the height and strength to box out defenders and make those contested catches in the end zone. Of course, Evan Engram at 6’3″ will also be a factor in the red zone. The Giants struggled to capitalize when in scoring position last year. But that should change in 2021.

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