Follow Us
Subscribe
All eyes were on both Daniel Jones and Darren Waller during the opening week of the New York Giants’ OTAs schedule.
The Giants acquired Waller from the Las Vegas Raiders in March. He was just months removed from signing off on a three-year, $51 million extension deal with the Raiders, but in the end, the team decided to offload him in order to create some much-needed cap space.
Waller worked with Jones during the Giants' OTAs this past week. The two spent much time building chemistry with each other on the field.
Jones to Waller pic.twitter.com/63YACYv8yE
— Giants Daily (@NYGDaily) May 26, 2023
For Jones, it has been so far, so good in his early run working with the veteran tight end.
“Darren's been great,” Jones said during a press conference at the Giants’ OTAs. “I think as soon as you walk on the field, you can see he's a big guy. He can run. He can run every route. Catches the ball really well, great body control. He's been really fun to work with. A really smart guy.
“He's picked up things really quickly, too. … He's just an impressive athlete. He's just been locked in. You can tell it's important to him. He's put a lot of effort into learning the stuff and getting caught up. It's been fun working with him.”
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka sure will count on Waller to help add another dimension to the Jones-led offense this season. Waller did just that during his five-season run with the Raiders, where he tallied 286 receptions and 17 touchdown catches.
In the big picture, Jones sees that Waller’s versatility can come in handy for the Giants this year.
“He can do a lot,” Jones said. “He's obviously a tough matchup for people, for defenses, with a guy who can run like that with that kind of size, and how you play him in man and how you account for him in zone coverages.
“He definitely gives something for a defense to worry about or to game plan for, and we can move him around and put him in different spots. Just a super versatile player.”
The Giants’ OTAs schedule will continue on May 30.