E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls up until last year. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

(From near worst to near best is what seems to be in line for the Giants in the category of speed receivers. Read along as our Scott Landstrom outlines the dramatic increase in speed generated by GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll and try to picture such rare ability flying downfield in home uniforms.)

By Scott Landstrom
One of the most under-appreciated elements of constructing and nurturing a sports team to be great is the need for "complimentary" skills and talents on the team. If you want an example of the opposite of this synergistic ideal, all you have to do is go back to the U.S. Olympic basketball team back before 1992 when it was still an "all-amateur" affair here on our national team.

Teams were chosen purely on ability, even if those abilities were redundant a few times over with other players on the squad, so experienced, synergistically built teams like Spain and Argentina shockingly beat the nation that invented the sport of basketball in international tournaments like the Olympics and the World Championships.

Even later, after the "Dream Team" had brought our best players into the fray and reclaimed world dominance, the U.S. basketball management put some hodge-podge non-complimentary teams on the court, and they got waxed as well, thus necessitating the "Redeem Team" and yet another desperate (and successful) fight to bring home the basketball gold medal to where it truly belongs.

And they did it, once again, by constructing a team that had complimentary skills, where the value of the whole team exceeded the sum of the parts.

Similarly, in baseball, if you acquire a great ground-ball pitcher, you must have the lightning-quick surehanded infielders able to take advantage of this propensity to induce ground balls that his assortment of pitches tends to produce. Otherwise, it is simply a mismatch, destined to annoy the pitcher as error after error ruins his box score.

Well, Giants Nation, it probably won't surprise you that NFL football is no different, that the need to have complimentary skills is essential to building a team that can go deep into the playoffs "dance." And when one looks at this off-season constructed by GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll (primarily these two, anyway), one of the most startling themes they have been purposeful about assembling is much more pure speed on the entire team, but in the wide receiver and tight end groups in particular.

I am not sure this team has EVER had a tight end that runs 4.40 in the 40-yard dash, as Darren Waller did at his Combine, and there has only been one faster player in franchise history than Parris Campbell and his jaw-dropping 4.31 (that player being John Ross, who had the Combine record in the forty for several years).

On top of that, the team added speed-burners Jeff Smith (4.34), third round draft choice and Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt (4.38), and undrafted signee Bryce Ford-Wheaton (4.38). And they join existing speedsters Darius Slayton (4.39 - who spent the final seven games as the ONLY receiving target under 4.40 in the forty) and Wan' Dale Robinson (4.38).

So the Giants went from perhaps the team with the LEAST speed at the receiver position to possibly (Dolphins would challenge this) the team with the MOST super-fast receiver options. Five of them in the 4.3 neighborhood - I don't think any other team can make that claim.

But back to our earlier point about the need for "complimentary" skill sets, who is going to accurately place the ball for these sprinters flying down the field, hoping for a well-placed pass?

Well, we know that Daniel Jones had the fourth lowest "average air yards per pass" of all QBs with at least 400 passing attempts, and we know he was second-to-last in "attempted "passes of 20 air yards or more. So what person would have confidence that this stable of lightning fast sprinters will actually have someone to get the ball to them downfield, in our quest for players with "complimentary skills"?

None other than Mr. Daniel Steven Jones III! "Say what?" you exclaim. The same dude who threw the second fewest 20 yard passes is up to the task of turning these speedsters into viable downfield connections. Yeah - THAT guy exactly.

Despite being behind an offensive line that finished 29th in the NFL in "Pass Block Win Rate" (which meant he often didn't have the time to wait for ‘vertical pass plays" to develop, and despite the fact that two of his three true "speed receivers" (Sterling Shepard and Wan'Dale Robinson) were lost for the season with torn ACLs, the few occasions when Jones did have enough time to throw deep, and someone actually had some ‘separation' - the man was stunningly accurate.

How accurate? How about a QB rating on throws over 20 yards of 119.4 - merely second best in the league to Miami's Tua Tagovailoa (who has the unfair advantage of throwing to the fastest pair or receivers in league history in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle). Second best in the NFL on deep-ball accuracy! And do you want to know where he finished in 2020 in this metric? FIRST in the NFL with a 130.9 QB rating on deep throws. This is definitely not a "fluke," folks - this boy can drop a dime on a firehouse chimney.

So people ask me why I am so excited for the "opening up" of the Giants' vertical passing attack, and I point to Evan Neal's "new body" and his off-season work with Hall of Fame offensive tackle Willie Anderson, and I point to the fact that Schoen got the First Team All-Big Ten designation, as well as the even more prestigious First Team All-American center (John Michael Schmitz), despite the fact that the kid down the street from Michigan (Olusegun Oluwatimi) won both the Outland Trophy and the Rimington Trophy, but couldn't beat out Schmitz for first team all-league honors or All-American honors.

(Editor's note: Oluwatimi wasn't drafted until the fifth round). Schmitz joins the "merry-go-round" of mediocre centers the Giants have had since Bart Oates and Shaun O'Hara and takes us into the possible realm of excellence we have not known at this position for many years.

We know Andrew Thomas just got a massive contract extension for a good reason - he is getting better every season, and last year was the second-rated tackle according to PFF in the entire NFL. If those three keys don't add up to "More time in the pocket for Jones" I will be stunned.

And if going from ONE sub-4.40 receiver (for the last seven games, anyway) to FIVE (not even counting our TE who is 4.40 flat) doesn't produce some separation downfield, then I will be flabbergasted. And if a kid from Duke who has been in the top three of "deep pass accuracy" metrics doesn't throw one hell of a lot more than 27 passes more than 20 yards, I will hand in my analytical credentials (injuries notwithstanding, of course, especially to Jones himself.)

Just to pick a number for you, I am going to put the 2023 "over-under" for deep attempts (if Jones stays healthy) at 51, almost double his amount last year, and good enough for a top-eight league ranking in 2022, if the coming season was to replicate it.

And If I am right, the "safety support" holding Saquon Barkley and the rest of the backs down, as well as the running of Jones himself, will be greatly mitigated, as they will have their backs to the pocket and trying desperately to keep up with the six rocket ships New York can send out into the route tree. Just imagine that possibility, for a moment, if you wish a smile to emerge on your visage.

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