This was worth the wait! On Friday night, the NY Giants and Carolina Panthers are in action at MetLife Stadium and Brian Daboll made everyone happy by sending the starters, outside of Saquon Barkley, out on to the field to open things up.
Countless eyes were of course going to be on star signal-caller Daniel Jones, but also tight end Darren Waller. Making his debut for Big Blue, Waller did not disappoint, as he was a total beast on the opening drive. Jones found Daniel Bellinger for a four-yard touchdown, but Waller was easily the story of the opening series:
Darren Waller on that first drive: 3 receptions for 30 yards. Stud pic.twitter.com/CL0PiKc5pO
— GMEN HQ (@GMENHQ) August 18, 2023
Darren Waller is looking like a beast already for the New York Giants
Yes, it's the preseason, but it's hard to not get excited about the chemistry we're seeing between Waller and Danny Dimes. On that opening drive, No. 12 caught three balls for 30 yards, including a 12-yard reception on third down to keep things going. People on social media are loving life right now thanks to the former Pro Bowl tight end:
Having Darren Waller has to be an amazing feeling for a guy like Daniel Jones. Just totally geeked up.
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) August 18, 2023
Daniel Jones and Darren Waller rn pic.twitter.com/vHap1C8XOf
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) August 18, 2023
If you weren’t already high on Darren Waller and Daniel Jones, now you should be. Hope you bought the dip on Waller’s injury concerns because we all knew he’d be “WR1” after the trade 🚀🚀 As a giants fan I’m excited to see the offense this year
— Sean the RN (@TheFantasyRN) August 18, 2023
So excited to see the duo of Darren Waller and Daniel Bellinger for the #Giants offense this season. Their skill sets complement each other well!
— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) August 18, 2023
4 targets for Darren Waller on the opening drive, yup he’s getting 2000 targets this year.
— SpecFF (@zpectr) August 18, 2023
Darren Waller gonna ball out for NYG
— Make It Count 🤞🏾 (@countitpicks) August 18, 2023
Darren Waller is gonna eat this year (pending health)
— black wilshere (@cole_shutup) August 18, 2023
After that 75-yard drive to start the game for the NYG offense, Coach Dabes decided to call it a night for Jones, Waller and others. During his short time on the field, Jones was 8-of-9 for 69 yards and a touchdown.
Yeah, that's going to make a lot of people happy. With Waller posting three receptions on four targets to get his NY career going - yup, that's also going to have people fired up for a while. He really did look tremendous.
There are high expectations for Waller in 2023 and his health will have a major impact on if he can be a big-time playmaker for Jones and Co. So far, so good for Waller and people are thrilled to see what he'll be able to do once the regular season gets here too.
READ MORE: 3 predictions for the Giants vs. Panthers preseason game