ESPN analyst ranks New York Giants' coaching staff dead last in NFL
The Giants appeared to be on their way to a new era of prosperity. It was not meant to be. Injuries and poor play at quarterback led to two dismal seasons and a cumulative 9-25 record.
Daboll went from promising coach of the future to almost getting fired. But Giants co-owner John Mara decided to display some patience and keep Daboll on. He had hired and fired three other coaches since 2015, trying to replace Tom Coughlin, and all had failed.
The football world is well aware of the Giants' woes. Big Blue has not fared well in national polls, and rightfully so. In a recent ranking of NFL coaching staffs by ESPN's Ben Solak, the Giants finished dead last.
While the offensive brain trust of Daboll and Kafka has yet to string together multiple seasons of above-average offense, there are pockets of innovation. It's not much to hang a hat on, but if and when we see Jaxson Dart this season at quarterback, I expect the team to have some smart, easy ways to get him into a rhythm and involved in the running game. I can at least see the visions in New York, even if the plane often struggles to get off the ground.
I have a warmer appreciation for Bowen, who is always willing to get creative with alignment and coverages to solve personnel problems on the back end. The 2024 Giants' defense was definitely poor, but they have overhauled the secondary and added to the pass rush this offseason, so I'm happy reserving a stronger judgment for Year 2.
As it is, the best defensive season for Bowen was with the 2022 Titans, which was just above a league-average unit. Of course, Daboll's best seasons came with the much-improved Josh Allen at the helm in Buffalo -- otherwise, his best work was the 2022 season with Daniel Jones, which was also a league-average unit. And again, critically, was not sustained, developed or iterated on. It's tough to believe in a high ceiling with the Giants' current staff.
Daboll can be blamed for a lot here. Even though he's got five Super Bowl rings as an assistant and a college national championship to his credit, he's been an under-performing head coach. He knows it, too. He's been fine-tuning his staff and concentrating on being less of a micro-manager.
The criticism of Kafka isn't really fair. He didn't have playcalling responsibilities last year, and injuries forced him to start four different players at quarterback. The offensive line was again a mess, and points were hard to come by.
Bowen was in the first year on the job, and his approach was a big contrast to that of his predecessor, Wink Martindale. Injuries to his best two players (Dexter Lawrence, Bobby Okereke) didn't help.
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