The New York Giants have tabbed Brian Daboll to lead the organization’s rebuild, alongside newly hired general manager Joe Schoen
Brian Daboll, hired by the New York Giants last Friday evening as the organization’s next head coach, has a track record of offensive success and developing young quarterbacks.
It would seem that Giants owner John Mara and newly hired general manager Joe Schoen, whom Daboll worked with in Buffalo, made this hire with at least one eye towards an offense that was one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the league the past two years.
Daboll joined the Bills during the 2018 off-season after helping Alabama win a national championship as their offensive coordinator/QB coach. Since then he has propelled the Bills offense into one of the best in the league.
In order to set expectations for Brian Daboll’s tenure as New York Giants head coach properly, it’s worth looking at how the offense performed each season and where it ranked, alongside how well the QB of the team played.
How Brian Daboll’s offenses faired prior to his arrival as New York Giants head coach:
2018 molding a rookie quarterback
Daboll was hired to be the new offensive coordinator of the Bills on January 4th of 2018 after helping Alabama win the National Championship the year prior, however, Daboll did not have a very glamorous start to his reintroduction to the NFL.
This certainly was not all Daboll’s fault, as the team itself was still in rebuilding mode and had a raw rookie QB in Josh Allen.
The Bills finished the season ranking 31st in passing yards, 32nd in passing TD’s, 9th in rushing yards, and 13th in rushing touchdowns.
A big reason as to why the passing offense for the Bills was so poor was mostly due to the lack of personnel, as alongside a rookie QB in Josh Allen, there weren’t many weapons, as the starting receivers for the team were Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones, alongside Charles Clay at TE, none of which had over 700 receiving yards.
As for Allen himself, he somewhat struggled his rookie season, only throwing for 2,074 yards, 10 TD’s, and 12 interceptions in 12 games played, however, this was a running team, which is an area of which Allen showed tremendous potential, running for 631 yards and 8 TD’s, helping the Bills rank so high in rushing offense.
This season was a rough one for the Bills, as they finished the season 6-10 and missed the playoffs, however, as we all know, things were about to drastically change for the Bills.
2019 Brian Daboll’s Bills begin to turn a corner
This season for the Bills was more of the same from what they saw last season in terms of their offense, as they ranked 26th in passing yards, 24th in passing TD’s, 8th in rushing yards, and 18th in rushing TD’s.
While there were some improvements to the passing game, this was mostly due to Josh Allen’s progression as a QB. While he still had his issues, his improvement was very noticeable, as he ended the season with 3,089 passing yards, 20 TD’s and 9 interceptions, alongside 510 rushing yards and 9 TD’s, showcasing the elite potential he had.
One of the biggest reasons for the Bills’ improvement offensively was the signing of Cole Beasley 687and John Brown, both finished the season with 750+ receiving yards and six touchdowns, Josh Allen finally had the weapons he desperately needed.
Despite the change of running backs from LeSean McCoy to rookie Devin Singletary, the run game remained relatively the same for the Bills, as Singletary would finish the season rushing for 775 yards and two touchdowns.
This would end up being the Bills’ best season in years, as they finished 10-6 and made the playoffs, however, they would end up losing in their Wildcard matchup against the Texans.
2020: Turning Josh Allen into an MVP candidate
This would end up being the Bills’ most successful season in decades, as they would finish the season with a record of 13-3, Brian Daboll would also win AP assistant coach of the year this season, and it’s easy to see why.
The Bills offense had one of the most impressive jumps in terms of passing, this was due to a trade they did in the off-season in which they brought in Pro-Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs from the Minnesota Vikings.
However, this new and improved passing offense came a drop-off in the Bills running game, as sophomore running-back Devin Singletary would see a decrease in statistics, dropping down to 687 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
On the season, the Bills would end up ranking 3rd in passing yards, 4th in passing TD’s, 20th in rushing yards, and 16th in rushing touchdowns.
Another big reason as to why the Bills passing offense improved in such a massive way was the breakout season that Josh Allen had, throwing for 4,544 yards, 37 TD’s, and 10 interceptions, alongside 421 rushing yards and 8 TD’s, making his first career Pro-Bowl.
This season showcased just how much of an offensive genius Brian Daboll is, as his offense helped push the Bills all the way to the AFC championship where they would be defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs.
2021: Brian Daboll, Josh Allen’s swan song
In Daboll’s final season with the Buffalo Bills he showcased his potential as a head coach, with the Buffalo Bills offense not only being tremendous in the regular season, but also taking a massive leap in the playoffs.
While statistically, the Bills passing offense fell off a little bit from the season prior, this is due to a couple of rough games Josh Allen had during the season, such as the Bills week 17 matchup against the Falcons in which Josh Allen threw zero TD’s and three interceptions.
On the season, the Buffalo Bills ranked 9th in passing yards, 8th in passing TD’s, 6th in rushing yards, and 8th in rushing TD’s, so while the Bills passing offense slightly declined, the rushing offense skyrocketed up to top-10 in the NFL.
Despite a couple of bad games by Josh Allen, he still had an MVP caliber season, throwing for 4,407 yards, 36 TD’s and 15 interceptions. While statistically, Josh Allen had a worse season than last year, the rate of which he picked his play up in the postseason showcased how elite he truly is.
While the Bills did not make it as far in the playoffs as they did the previous season, this is because of the Bills defense not showing up in the most important moments, the opposite of what their offense did.
In two playoff games played this season, Josh Allen threw for 637 yards, 9 TD’s, and 0 interceptions, one of the most impressive post seasons we have seen from a QB in a long time, it is very unfortunate that their season ended the way it did as Josh Allen likely would have broken some post season records.