The New York Giants believe Kenny Golladay will make a huge impact on both quarterback Daniel Jones and the team’s offense as a whole. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have doled out $40 million in guaranteed money to bring the big-bodied target to East Rutherford. Still, it’s nice to hear others — especially those who have had an up-close and personal view of Golladay — share a similar opinion.
Jason Cabinda, who spent the past two seasons as Golladay’s teammate with the Detroit Lions, recently joined FanSided’s The Matt Lombardo Show podcast where he had nothing but praise for the former Pro Bowler, calling Golladay “a damn good football player.”
“It sucks he got hurt last year and couldn’t go out there and perform,” Cabinda noted. “Coming out of training camp last summer, he was looking scary. To that team, and to have that No. 1 guy, that true deep-threat, but who can also be a possession receiver and run the whole route tree, he’s that guy. He’s going to go up and get the 50/50 balls. He’s a hell of a playmaker. He’s going to make a big impact there.”
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Golladay is ‘Going to Get the Ball’
Golladay isn’t the only new weapon in the Giants’ receiving arsenal, but rather the headliner. The team also took a flyer on former No. 9 overall pick John Ross in free agency and used their first-round pick on Florida’s Kadarius Toney. Add in the under-the-radar signing of Kyle Rudolph, a healthy Saquon Barkley and 2020 holdovers Darius Slayton, Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard, and the G-Men should undoubtedly improve upon their 29th-ranked passing offense from 2020 (189.1 ypg).
Yet, as ESPN’s Jordan Raanan highlighted, while the team theoretically has the weapons to spread the football around, the Giants didn’t pay Golladay the large sum they did for him to not eat up a big chunk of the offense’s target share.
The Giants didn’t pay all that money ($18 million per year) for him [Golladay] to be a decoy. Golladay, if healthy, is going to get the ball. Expect something similar to his 2018-19 levels with the Detroit Lions — about a 20% target share. Golladay is Jones’ top target and the Giants will be designing plays to get him the ball. That kind of workload seems a lock considering Jones’ top target last season (out of desperation) was Engram, coming in at 21%.
It is possible Golladay’s target share dips a bit — instead of averaging 7.5 targets per game, maybe it dips to about 7.0 — because Jones will be spreading the ball around to these improved pass-catchers.
What Golladay Brings to the Table
Golladay missed all but five games a season ago due to hamstring and hip injuries, leading to the least prolific campaign of his four-year career. However, he’s just one season away from leading the NFL with 11 receiving touchdowns while his 63% contested catch rate since 2018 trails only Saints star Michael Thomas for the league lead (per Pro Football Focus).
For a team that has continuously trotted out diminutive-sized slot receivers as go-to targets in recent years within an offense that amassed just 12 total passing touchdowns in 2020 (tied for last in the NFL), the 6-foot-4-inch, 213-pound Golladay should make a profound difference for Big Blue this coming season.
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Giants Got ‘a Hell of a Playmaker,’ Says Former Teammate