It’s been a helluva start to 2022 for New York sports fans. No, the Knicks didn’t suddenly find their mojo from last season again, and no, the uber-talented Yankees likely won’t be able to overcome the fact that Aaron Boone is arguably the worst manager in baseball. One positive to the list was the New York online sports betting launch! New Yorkers can bet anywhere in the state with the likes of Caesars New York, the current top mobile sportsbook in the state.
However, the Giants’ franchise breathed a breath of fresh air with the recent hiring of Brian Daboll as the new head coach. His introduction comes just in time for the launch of mobile sports betting in New York, and fans are certainly itching at the opportunity to place some wagers on the Giants.
Daboll’s History
Daboll will have to win over his new team’s supporters, but if his success with the Bills is any indication, he’s going to turn this franchise around quickly. Daboll’s resume includes a who’s who of elite coaches who he has worked under. Nick Saban and Bill Belichick are the obvious standouts, but Sean McDermott is quickly making a name for himself in Buffalo with playoff appearances in four of his five seasons there. McDermott’s best decision in Buffalo might be hiring Daboll as the team’s offensive coordinator after his first season as head coach.
When Daboll arrived in Buffalo, Josh Allen was an incredibly raw rookie quarterback who threw for more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (10) in his first professional season. Allen was inaccurate, erratic, and mistake-prone in all of the worst ways. Detractors quickly jumped to criticize the Bills for spending the seventh overall pick on Allen, especially with Lamar Jackson still available. And yet, with the close guidance and mentorship of Daboll, Allen has developed into one of the league’s best quarterbacks.
Daboll & Allen’s Success
In two playoff games this year, Allen torched his opponents to the tune of 637 passing yards on a 77.4% completion rate with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. In his most recent playoff game, he went toe to toe with Patrick Mahomes, deemed the “young goat” and the best quarterback in the NFL, and nearly came out on top. It’s hard to play any better than that, and Allen has every right to feel hard done that he’s not representing the AFC in the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks.
It didn’t happen overnight. With his unique blend of athleticism and strength and his absolute cannon of an arm, Allen always had the traits that made scouts and coaches salivate. However, there were tons of aspects of his game that needed to be ironed out. His footwork, pocket awareness, field vision, and football IQ all needed work. However, the raw traits were there, and the Bills pegged the up-and-coming Brian Daboll as the man to figure out the puzzle that was Josh Allen.
Daboll was there through it all, helping Allen improve his passer rating, completion percentage year, and touchdown rate while decreasing his interception rate year by year until he played well enough to finish second in MVP voting last year. It’s obvious now that Allen is destined to be one of the best quarterbacks of our generation, and the fact that some people were clamoring for Josh Rosen to be drafted ahead of him is fall-out-of-your-chair laughable now.
Daboll Working With Daniel Jones
Brian Daboll was likely deserving of a head coaching job last year, but he stayed in Buffalo for one more season to see if he couldn’t win a Super Bowl with his team. The Bills came up short in the divisional round, and the Giants had to feel like they won the lottery to get the coach, so many team’s fans were dying to see their front offices hire. Now, Daboll shifts his focus to seeing if Daniel Jones has anything in the tank.
In just three years in the NFL, Daniel Jones has already worked under two head coaches and three different offensive coordinators, none of whom were well-equipped to help him develop into a quality starter. Jones might never get there. He certainly hasn’t played consistently well to this point. However, if there’s one man to elevate his play, it’s undoubtedly Brian Daboll.
Daboll has already spoken about the importance of developing a solid relationship with Jones and his desire to build an offense that “suits” him. Daboll spoke about giving Jones better stability, helping him become a better leader, and working with him to improve at his introductory press conference. Some Giants fans may have already given up on Jones, but Daboll certainly hasn’t with the way he spoke about him.
The NYG Offense with Daboll
The Giants’ offense needs a lot of work to get to an even passable level as they scored just 15.2 points per game last year, ranking 31st in the NFL. Their defense wasn’t much better as they allowed 24.5 points per game, tenth-most in the NFL, and keeping defensive coordinator Patrick Graham at his post was an interesting decision, to say the least. The Giants did rank ninth in scoring defense last year, and Daboll has past experience with Graham when they were both on the New England staff, but we’ll see if the decision pays off.
As far as the offense goes, this team has more talent than you’d expect just by looking at their stats. Kenny Golladay had an awful first year in New York with just 37 catches for 521 yards and no touchdowns in 14 games, but it wasn’t that long ago that he put up a 65-1,190-11 line in Detroit. Kadarius Toney showed flashes of being well worth the first-round pick the team spent on the speedy playmaker. Saquon Barkley is still capable of being one of the league’s best running backs when he’s healthy. Sterling Shepard is a talented receiver, as well.
The Giants’ offensive line needs some work in free agency, however. Andrew Thomas had an excellent sophomore season and started to prove his worth as an early first-round pick, but the rest of the line has lots of holes. Luckily, the Giants have nine picks in the upcoming draft, and they hold picks #5 and #7 in the 2022 draft. The offensive line will almost surely be a priority spot, and Evan Neal, Charles Cross, and Tyler Linderbaum stand out as potential top-ten picks.
After Dave Gettleman retired, the Giants still need to find a new general manager, but they’re moving in the right direction. If they can rebuild their offensive line and Daniel Jones’s confidence, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the offense take a significant step forward in Brian Daboll’s first season. You can’t expect too much right away, but I’m not totally out on Jones as the team’s franchise QB, and Daboll will make fans quickly forget the doldrums of the 2021 season. If you’re in New York, you can get excited to bet on the Giants as they embark on a new season.
