The motto for this off-season: give Daniel Jones playmakers. Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge paired up to do just that. Speedy wide receiver John Ross, red-zone threat Kyle Rudolph and the top available pass catcher in free agency Kenny Golladay all agreed to terms to play for the New York Giants. In just a few days, the Giants now have a respectable group of weapons that will certainly help Jones take the next step. Here are the three playmakers the Giants added on offense.
New York Giants Free Agency: Three New Weapons Added, Including Kenny Golladay
John Ross
John Ross was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the ninth-overall pick in the 2017. Ross is infamously known as having the fastest 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine, clocking in at 4.22 seconds.
However, Ross never lived up to the hype in his time with the Bengals. In just 27 games in four seasons, Ross recorded 51 passes for 733 yards and 10 touchdowns, while averaging 14.4 yards per catch. While these are not exactly exciting numbers, it is important to note that Ross’s best season came in 2019.
In 2019, John Ross recorded 28 catches for 506 yards and three touchdowns with a yard per catch average of 18.1. The impressive part? He did this in just eight games. His 16-game adjusted stats would read 56 receptions for 1,012 yards and six touchdowns.
Ross is a speedy wide receiver, and is always a threat for a deep ball. His ability to fly past defenders on deep routes will make it difficult for opposing secondaries, especially now that he shares the field with Kenny Golladay.
Kyle Rudolph
Kyle Rudolph is a well-rounded veteran who was selected by the Minnesota Vikings back in 2011. He has 453 catches for 4,488 yards and 48 touchdowns in his ten year career. The Giants brought him in on a two-year deal with a max value of $12 million.
The problem fans had with current tight end Evan Engram is his drops. Engram had 11 drops in 2020, including one that could have ended the game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7. Bringing in Rudolph completely changes this, as he has not dropped a pass in over two seasons.
Rudolph’s presence will now allow the Giants to run more two tight end sets. The Giants ran 12 personnel 27% of the time in 2020, and were successful on 50% of those pass plays. The addition of Rudolph gives this offense a more reliable target than Engram, and gives Jason Garrett his modern-day Jason Witten.
Rudolph is also a big red-zone threat. His 6’6″ frame will give Daniel Jones opportunities to find him in the end zone.
Kenny Golladay
The biggest signing of free agency for New York was adding wide receiver Kenny Golladay. They gave him a four-year deal worth $72 million, with $40 million guaranteed.
Golladay is the perfect receiver for this offense and the exact one this team was looking for all along. Interest from the Giants side dated back to last year’s deadline, where they reportedly called the Detroit Lions in to check on Golladay’s availability.
Talks never progressed, but it does not matter now as the Giants finally got the guy that they have wanted all along. Golladay is one of the NFL’s best when it comes to contested catches, having the second most in the league since 2018. He can also track the ball very well through tight windows. Who throws the ball into tight windows often? Daniel Jones. The two will also connect in the deep game, as Golladay is also one of the best wide receivers when it comes to downfield catches.
Golladay has recorded 183 catches for 3,068 yards and 21 touchdowns with a 16.8 yards per catch average in 47 career games. To put this into perspective, Calvin Johnson‘s first 47 career game stats were 3,166 yards and 22 touchdowns. Not saying that Golladay will be the next Megatron, but his nickname is “Babytron” after all.
Golladay is the missing piece this offense has needed for quite some time.
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Final Word on New York Giants Free Agency
The Giants brought in three quality players to help boost a lackluster offense. John Ross, Kyle Rudolph and Kenny Golladay will all help Daniel Jones hopefully take the next step in improving his game, while also hoping to add more wins to the win column in 2021.
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