The New York Giants pulled off a big move on Saturday afternoon, inking wide receiver Kenny Golladay to a four-year, $72 million contract with $40 million guaranteed. General manager Dave Gettleman made it clear earlier in the off-season that finding playmakers for Daniel Jones was crucial, and he delivered. Kenny Golladay brings over a big frame and the ability to make tough, contested catches. Golladay is a breath of fresh air for this struggling New York Giants offense.
Kenny Golladay Is A Game Changer For New York Giants Offense
Solid Wide Receiver Room
Before free agency began, the Giants had one of the worst receiving cores in the entire league. Since then, they released Golden Tate after two seasons, and before adding Golladay, agreed to terms with former first-round pick John Ross. Now, the Giants receivers are Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, John Ross, Dante Pettis and C.J. Board.
Also, the Giants added a big redzone target in Kyle Rudolph, who will be the perfect tight end for Jason Garrett’s offense.
Allowing Daniel Jones To Go Deep
Daniel Jones was one of the best downfield passers in the NFL last season. The problem? They did not throw the ball down the field often, due to lack of playmakers and overall play-calling. Add in the 6’4″ Golladay and Daniel Jones will now have the opportunity to go deep. Jones has never had a receiver like this before and is undoubtedly the best player he is going to play with besides star running back Saquon Barkley, who will be returning from injury.
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According to Pro Football Focus, Golladay’s 628 yards on deep passes ranked second in the league in 2019. Jones was on target on 51% of his throws down the field in his career. Pairing these two together was a match made in Heaven.
“[Jones] is still kind of fresh in the league, a little bit,” Golladay said, via NorthJersey.com. “I kinda wanna grow with him. I’m still growing as a player, and I feel like me and him can do some good things. We haven’t gotten on the practice field yet, but, me and him both are very excited.”
Giving Daniel Jones his number one wide receiver was atop the Giants offseason priorities, and they got it done.
Misconceptions
Most fans say Golladay is injury prone when blindly mentioning his name. This is not the case at all. While he missed 11 games in 2020 and five in 2017, Golladay eclipsed 1,000 plus receiving yards in the two seasons where he played in double digit games. The Giants sent him to the hospital for special surgery to check out his hip before signing, and all looked well.
If healthy, Golladay can really provide a spark that this offense has been missing in what seems like forever.
Fans also like to say that Golladay cannot create separation. While this may be true sometimes, Golladay does not need separation in order to make an impact. He can track balls very well in tight windows and can make any contested catch that goes his way. Golladay has the second-most contested catches in the league since 2018 with 53, and the most contested catch touchdowns in 2019 with nine.
Final Word on Kenny Golladay
The Giants seriously did a great job in bringing in Golladay. It was a very long free agent visit, but also very worthwhile in the end. Golladay will help transform this offense into hopefully one of the best in the league. Now with the likes of Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard and others, Golladay will be the number one player to watch on the Giants offense this upcoming season.
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