New offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will be helping new head coach Brian Daboll oversee quite an undertaking: improving the New York Giants’ woeful and underperforming offense.
The 34-year-old makes his way to MetLife Stadium from Kansas City, where he worked alongside Andy Reid and superstar Patrick Mahomes as a quarterbacks coach. With the Chiefs, Kafka contributed to one of the most lethal attacks in all of football; fueled by Mahomes and supplemented by a bevy of weapons ranging from Tyreek Hill to Travis Kelce.
The Giants don’t boast nearly that same kind of firepower, but Kafka’s goal is to make Big Blue’s offense much more threatening.
“Big picture-wise, you always think about generating those explosive plays,” Kafka told the Giants’ official website. “You know the Kansas City offense is going to throw it deep and do those types of things downfield. That’s important to understand that and it’s important to understand that it’s an element of our offense.
“Now, we have to take a step back and make sure it fits our personnel, our quarterback, our offensive line, but I think you want to find ways to generate explosive plays especially this day and age in the NFL.”
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Much of the focus will be honed in on Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who has received multiple votes of confidence from new GM Joe Schoen, Daboll, and Kafka as the team’s man under center for the 2022 season. While he’s been unable to meet the unfair high expectations that came with former GM Dave Gettleman choosing him sixth overall three years ago, Kafka believes there’s plenty to work with.
“He’s athletic, he can make every throw,” Kafka said. “I think he can throw from different launch points… It’s about making sure we can make him as comfortable as possible, put him in positions to be successful, and make sure the playmakers around him are also in good positions too so it’s not just a one-man show, but an 11-man operation.
“Being creative with Daniel will be an element of that.”
It remains to be seen who will be calling the plays for the Giants’ offense in 2022. Daboll was formerly the offensive coordinator of a successful Buffalo Bills attack before taking the Giants’ head coaching job while Kafka has never had such responsibilities.
“From Day 1, he’s been very open about making sure that we can collaborate on this thing,” Kafka said of Daboll. “Make it not the Bills offense or Chiefs offense, but the Giants offense.
“We have to put together a strong plan with some foresight.”
