When the Giants hired four-year Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, it was expected the play-caller who helped Josh Allen become a top-tier quarterback would run the show for the Giants. The rookie HC might have other plans.
Giants OC Mike Kafka is calling plays at training camp, and while making these scripted calls is quite different from being an in-game play-caller, Daboll said he has not finalized his decision on who will call regular-season plays.
“Mike has done a really good job in the spring, which he handled the scripts,” Daboll said, via Giants.com’s Michael Eisen. “And again, we talk on a day-to-day basis on plays and things to install. But he’s been on the headset with Daniel [Jones]. And he’ll be doing that through camp. And as we get closer to it, we’ll sit down and discuss it. … Once we cross that bridge, which we’ve still got a little bit here to go, you guys will know.”
Daboll has a several-year head start on calling plays compared to Kafka, who worked under both Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy in Kansas City. While Kafka, 34, was Patrick Mahomes‘ position coach during each of the superstar’s four years as the Chiefs’ starter, Daboll enjoyed play-calling stints prior to Buffalo. He worked as OC in Cleveland, Miami and Kansas City from 2009-12. Daboll then established himself as a candidate for HC jobs by elevating Allen from a raw talent to a player that has done the most to reinstall the Bills as a Super Bowl contender.
It would surprise if Daboll ceded play-calling reins in his first year on the job. Most OCs that rise to the HC level call plays, and Daboll’s arrival represented a key development for Jones, who is going into what amounts to a make-or-break year as the Giants’ starter. Kafka calling plays for the Giants would also give him a potentially quicker path to the HC level, though it is a bit early to predict when the former NFL QB will be part of a coaching carousel.