His prediction of a slow start was on the money.
He was hurting and his acclimation with his new team was slowed to a crawl. This is going to take time, Kenny Golladay said heading into his first season with the Giants, as chemistry with a new quarterback and comfort with an entirely new offense does not happen overnight.
Golladay was prescient. It was a slow start for him. That was understandable. He was hurt and off the field. What is more concerning to the Giants as they come out of their bye with a game in Tampa on Monday night is that their big-ticket free agent has done little to earn all that money, little to make opposing defenses fret about his whereabouts on the field.
The Giants are 3-6 after nine games. Golladay has played in six of them and has 19 receptions for 310 yards. His average of 16.3 yards per catch is perfectly acceptable. When the ball is in the air, Golladay has shown he can battle for it and make the contested grab. He has shown he can use his big body (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) to shield defenders on slants.
What he has not shown is anything close to being the difference-maker who warranted a four-year, $72 million contract. The Giants guaranteed $40 million to Golladay, and the first half of his first season with them has been a slog.
“It’s frustrating to him not being able to do what he thinks he can do,” wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said Thursday.Â
That Golladay has gone six games without a touchdown is (pick one) shocking, alarming or disgusting. It is not as if the guy has a long history of producing touchdowns, though. He went nine straight games as a rookie in 2017 without reaching the end zone and five consecutive games in 2018 without a touchdown. In his breakout 2019 season (11 touchdowns) he went back-to-back games without scoring twice. Golladay’s 2020 season was basically a washout, as he played in only five games (two touchdowns) before a hip flexor issue landed him on injured reserve.
In 53 NFL games, Golladay has 21 touchdown receptions. He has not added to that total since he arrived to the Giants.
“Of course I want to set goals and put how many touchdowns I want,” Golladay said. “Is it frustrating? For me, yeah, just because I haven’t gotten in the [end] zone yet. But at the end of the day, as long as I’m making catches to help us get touchdowns, I’m OK.”
Golladay missed nearly all of training camp with a strained hamstring and labored early in the season.
“He wasn’t in game shape as much as he wanted to be, that set him back,” Tolbert said.Â
After missing three games with a bruised knee, Golladay returned last week and put in a quiet two-catch, 28-yard outing in the victory over the Raiders. After a week off, Golladay said this is the best he has felt all season.
“Oh, the bye week was definitely clutch,’’ he said.
There have been glimpses from Golladay, but only one complete game where anyone could think “Ah, this is why the Giants signed him.” He caught six passes for 116 yards in the comeback victory in New Orleans, which is also the first and last time Golladay, Saquon Barkley and rookie Kadarius Toney were fully healthy and on the field together. Daniel Jones threw for 402 yards in that game.Â
“Everybody touched the ball,” Golladay said. “DJ was able to pretty much hit everybody. That’s one of those good games when you come back and you’re smiling the whole time you’re watching the film. Of course, you make some mistakes during that game, but that’s one of those games you feel great about the next day.”Â
Golladay, Barkley and Toney will be on the field together in Tampa.
“When we’re at full strength it’s very exciting, I feel like,” Golladay said.Â
The Giants need the excitement that comes from their highest-paid playmaker making plays, especially when those plays culminate in the end zone.
“I say touchdowns kind of happen in bunches,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “It’s like a drug, you can’t wait to get more and it feels like forever, you can’t get in the end zone, you can’t get in the end zone and all of a sudden you rattle off five or six in four or five games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go on one of those runs at some point. This offense needs it. We have to score more touchdowns.”