What will the New York Giants’ offense look like under new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett this year?
According to Jon Kitna, who both played and coached quarterback under Garrett with the Dallas Cowboys, expects them to be aggressive.
“(Jason) wants the offense to have an aggressive mindset,” Kitna said in a recent interview on the Giants’ website. “He’s going to call plays aggressively. Obviously, that’s all going to be predicated on how well he gets his quarterback up to speed and all that stuff, and dealing with the younger guys. It’s different, but [Daniel Jones] played well last year, so I’m sure he’s excited about that.
“But he’s an aggressive playcaller. He’s going to call plays that are meant to get the football down the field and trust the quarterback that if we don’t get what we’re looking for, to move on and get it to the back coming out of the backfield and then we’ll call the next play. That’s what he wants to do. He wants to call the game aggressively. He wants to be on attack mode all the time. He really tries to instill that in his offensive unit.”
It’s a strategy Giant fans have been longing for. The key is to get second-year quarterback Daniel Jonen “up to speed,” which shouldn’t take very long given Jones’ proficiency to learn new things. The rest should come a bit easier with such solid skill players such as running backs Saquon Barkley and Dion Lewis, and passing game targets Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram, Darius Slayton and Golden Tate.
The biggest hurdle Garrett has to get Jones over is the turnover one. Jones lost 11 fumbles in 2019, and many of them proved to be costly. Kitna doesn’t believe that will be an issue going forward. Garrett will speed up Jones’ decision-making process.
“He’s going to call plays, and we’re calling this play to throw this route. When you get that route, let that thing rip. Get back and let it rip. But if it’s not there, move on. Move on, find the back, find the tight end, find the next thing. Don’t stand back there waiting for something to come open,” Kitna said. “You’re going to find a quarterback that, like I said, he’s going to play free. Jason does a great job of not over-complicating the game. Guys that have played quarterback in this league are great at doing that, of making the game simple for the quarterback so he can get back, get rid of that football.”
The quick delivery of the football will also go a long way to helping the rest of the offense do their jobs as well.
“It’ll be a lot more friendly for that offensive line,” said Kitna. “You get the ball to all of your playmakers in space. That ball is going to come out of his hand fast. But Daniel was already doing that last year. I watched it a lot. But a lot of the time, when you get in trouble or the defense confuses you, Jason is going to keep preaching to him, ‘Just move on. Move on. Take that back and move on. Get the ball out of your hands.'”
