Giants’ step back could force Brian Daboll to weigh risky coordinator decisions

Something has to change in 2024 with a team that delighted so many in 2022 and disgusted so many in 2023. The Giants need roster upgrades. There will be the importing of a quarterback, either in the draft or free agency, to add to a room that includes Daniel Jones coming off reconstructive knee surgery .

There needs to be (stop us if you’ve heard this one before) extreme upgrades (rinse and repeat) to the offensive line. And when a team is a surprising 9 7 1 and wins a playoff game one season and the next devolves to what the Giants are now — a non contender at 5 11 heading into a schedule mandated Week 18 finale against the Eagles — rumblings usually emerge about the need to make alterations to the coaching staff.

This will be a hot topic soon enough, and Brian Daboll could be sitting on an upheaval if he opts to move on from his coordinators, Wink Martindale on defense and Mike Kafka on offense, and if he opts to shake it up with special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, whose unit has shuffled through kickers (no fault of McGaughey’s) like a blackjack dealer in Vegas.

“They do a good job of leading their staffs,’’ Daboll said. “Communication and then you have to call the game. That’s pretty much the way it is.’’ Kafka, 36, was a hot commodity after his debut as a play caller last season, taking not one or two or three but four interviews for head coaching jobs.

The return engagement has not been as impressive, and the play call in the closing minute of Sunday’s 26 25 loss to the Rams — running Saquon Barkley on a draw for a 2 yard loss when a pass was needed to get the Giants into more realistic field goal range — put the offensive operation on blast.

Daboll is on the headset and can overrule anything Kafka calls. Daboll did not reveal the thinking behind the call immediately after the game, and on Monday, when asked if this was a teaching moment for Kafka, reiterated, “Yeah, look, I’d like to have that one back. Not much to add to it.’’ This is Daboll’s way — no public criticism of his players or his top assistants .

Will the season long struggles of the offense — 30th in the league in scoring at 14.9 points a game — prompt Daboll to look elsewhere? Would Daboll take on the play calling himself? If that happens, would Kafka want to stay in a neutered role? Daboll runs offenses, he does not run defenses, and so whoever he entrusts with his defense is the second most important individual on the entire staff.

There is little doubt there is some personality friction between Daboll and Martindale and it could lead to a parting of the ways. If it does, it would be a sea change, as Martindale is popular and charismatic and his fingerprints are all over the Giants’ defense. His guys at times gave the high flying Rams fits, with safety Dane Belton intercepting two Matthew Stafford passes and forcing a fumble for a third turnover .

“Got to give them a lot of credit on defense and Wink, they present about as tough of looks as you can present to an offense in some of those situations,’’ Stafford said. “I thought Coach Martindale did a great job of applying pressure,’’ Rams coach Sean McVay said. “We had our chances, but they did a good job of being able to create some of the issues that we had.

I’ve got a ton of respect for Wink Martindale. He does a great job.’’ New coordinators come with risk because the new guys are not always better than the old guys. Look at what is going on in Philadelphia, where the Eagles lost their top two coordinators from last season’s Super Bowl team, with Shane Steichen hired as the Colts head coach and Jonathan Gannon getting the head job with the Cardinals.

The Eagles’ offense has not been the same without Steichen, and head coach Nick Sirianni not long ago demoted newly hired Sean Desai and inserted Matt Patricia in to run the defense. Daboll says every call made by his coordinators ultimately “is my responsibility.’’ He was once an offensive coordinator and understands he cannot micromanage everything.

“I have trust in those guys,’’ he said. “They prepare hard, they work hard as a staff. So, I have trust in those guys.’’ Soon enough, we will see just how far that trust stretches. As the losing rises, so too does the pressure to make changes..