After his prior play-calling jobs did not go as planned, Brian Daboll called plays for four seasons in Buffalo, reestablishing himself as a credible NFL offensive coordinator.
In his first two years as Giants head coach, Daboll assumed a CEO-type role; now, he’s thinking about taking on another role.
Entering a crucial season, the third-year Giants captain stated he is considering switching to a play-calling position.
That would deprive OC Mike Kafka of a crucial duty. Although the Giants promoted Kafka to assistant head coach after denying him access to a Seahawks open interview and designating him as Daboll’s top offensive lieutenant, a downgrade is reportedly in the works before to his third season with the organization.
“It’s something I’m looking into,” Daboll said of a play-calling role this week. “I think there’s 20 head coaches at this point in time that call plays in the league [either offensively or defensively]. … There might be a little bit more. I’ve been doing a bunch of research, but no decision has been made. I’m still going through that process, thinking about what we need to do.”
It was anticipated that Daboll would call plays for the Giants in 2022, but prior to that campaign, it was disclosed that Kafka, who had joined the team after serving as the Chiefs quarterbacks coach for several years, would receive the play sheet.
Because of this setup, the team unexpectedly qualified for the playoffs in 2022. Daniel Jones performed well even though he was concentrating on a low-level group of pass catchers.
The Giants underperformed in the previous campaign, displaying no indications of their 2022 potential prior to Jones’ ACL rupture. There were moments when Daboll aggressively took over as the team’s playcaller, raising concerns about Kafka’s future there.
Unlike Don Martindale, who is at Michigan after his Daboll relationship combusted shortly after the season, Kafka managed to remain in place despite run-ins with the head coach last season.
The Seahawks and Titans also interviewed him for their HC vacancies, which came a year after the young play-caller received multiple interview slips in 2023.
With Daboll’s seat warming up, the Giants may be making a change. It should be considered likely that Daboll calls plays in 2024, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweets.
With Jones’ injury as the key variable, the Giants dropped from 15th to 30th in scoring offense from 2022 to 2023. Daboll may still be calling plays for Jones in 2024, though the Giants have a major decision to make in the draft.
The team has looked into trading up from No. 6 overall, but while quarterback is a major need, so is wide receiver. This draft’s QB crop would give the Giants a potential WR1 without needing to trade up.
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