Jason

Garrett

Garrett was fired from his post as offensive coordinator of the Giants two weeks ago. Duke is in the hunt for a new head coach after parting ways with David Cutcliffe in late November. Clemson OC Tony Elliot and Texas A&M DC Mike Elko are reportedly two other candidates for the Blue Devils job. Garrett has never coached in college.

Only the Jets (1.42) and Jaguars (1.54) have averaged fewer points per drive than the Giants (1.60) under Garrett since 2020, ranking stone-last in the NFL with 42 offensive touchdowns in that time and mustering season-lows in points, yards (215), first downs (15) and time of possession (24:21) on Monday night against the Bucs. It was a poor hiring from the beginning as Dave Gettleman was literally the only general manager bidding against himself for Garrett’s services. Freddie Kitchens, Joe Judge’s senior offensive assistant, is expected to take over play-calling with Garrett gone beginning on Sunday against the Eagles. It remains to be seen who Joe Judge will scapegoat next for his own poor coaching with Garrett no longer around to blame.

Asked following the Giants’ humiliating 30-10 Monday night loss to Tampa if he would keep Garrett as the team’s OC, Judge said, “I’m not going to get into that right now.” Judge has been asked this question frequently over the past two seasons of offensive futility, and he’s always been quick to affirm his support for Garrett. That wasn’t the case on Monday night, when the Giants mustered a single touchdown with most of their starters back from injury. The Daniel Jones-led New York offense was once again an embarrassment in the two minute drill, operating as if they had never prepared for situations that require offensive urgency. Garrett’s offense -- the second worst in 2020 -- averages the tenth fewest yards per game and the eighth fewest points. The Giants are the only NFL team that hasn’t scored 30 offensive points since the start of the 2020 season. They committed to mediocrity when they kept Garrett as offensive coordinator. Now Judge might have to make an awkward mid-season firing. The Athletic’s Dan Duggan said senior offensive assistant and failed Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens would take over the Giants’ offense if Garrett is canned.

Another losing season will likely force the Giants’ hand with Gettleman, whose fate has been tied to underachieving QB Daniel Jones since the team used the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft to land Jones. Per Duggan, Jones in 2021 is 25th in completion percentage, 25th in passing yards per game, 25th in touchdown passes, 26th in yards per attempt, 24th in passer rating, 25th in QB rating, 25th in DVOA, and 23rd in EPA. By nearly every measure, he has been among the league’s worst quarterbacks. More importantly for fantasy purposes, there could be “intrigue” this offseason in the potential replacement of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, whose stale offense has barely improved from last year’s disastrous performance. A creative OC could mean big things for Saquon Barkley, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, and the rest of the fantasy-relevant Giants in 2022.

In what may have been an elaborate comedy bit, the Chargers in January interviewed Garrett for their head coaching vacancy. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan said Garrett should be back with the Giants next season, though he expects some changes to the offensive coaching staff. New York was second to last in offensive yards per game last year, hampered by an ineffective, conservative passing game and a nonexistent rushing attack. Only the Jets scored fewer points than the Giants in 2020. Daniel Jones and the rest of the Big Blue offense can look forward to another season of Garrett’s cringeworthy sideline clapping from Garrett.

The Chargers are jumping the line to get ahead of all the other teams banging down the door to make Garrett their next head coach. With that pot shot out of the way, Garrett really would be as uninspired of a hire as possible. He must be a great locker room leader considering how long the Cowboys kept him employed, but he is not a creative offensive mind. Stagnation was the norm with his talented Cowboys squads. The Bolts need to think bigger as they guide one of the most elite young quarterback talents to enter the league in some time, Justin Herbert.

Why? Going from Anthony Lynn to Garrett would be a lateral move at best and likely a step backward. Garrett went 85-67 in 9.5 years as the Cowboys’ head coach before getting fired after last season, making the playoffs three times, but his offenses vastly underwhelmed, and he was accused of being way too conservative. “The Clapper” had to give up play-calling duties to Kellen Moore in Dallas and is merely a rah-rah guy who has no personality. He quickly resurfaced as the Giants’ OC this season, and Daniel Jones went on to take several steps backward as a sophomore. The Giants were 24th in offensive DVOA, checking in at 28th in passing. Garrett would be a last-resort Plan Z type of hire as the next man to handle Justin Herbert’s career.

Garrett ended up missing only one week. It’s good news, though it makes little difference who will be calling plays for this rudderless, talent-deficient offense.

Garrett will continue working remotely throughout the weekend, leaving tight ends coach (and former Browns head coach) Freddie Kitchens to instead call plays against his former team Sunday night. Kitchens was respectable as a play-caller before taking on too much of the organization’s load as head coach the following year, but he’s clearly strapped with an uphill battle out the gate since Daniel Jones (ankle, hamstring) is not expected to play. Needless to say, the Browns’ D/ST will be one of the best options for the second round of the fantasy playoffs.

That is potentially bad news for the Giants’ offense. Before Cowboys OC Kellen Moore revitalized the offense last season, Dallas annually had one of the slowest-paced and run-heaviest offenses under Garrett’s watch. If he doesn’t make adjustments to what he was running in the early and mid-2010s, then the Giants’ ceiling will be capped despite having one of the best skill-position groups in the NFL. Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton have the potential to hide a lot of Daniel Jones’ weaknesses in 2020 as long as Garrett can keep up with modern times. Garrett hasn’t called plays since 2012.