Cowboys news: Reactions to Jason Garrett going to the Giants, what does he bring to his new team?

NFL fans react to the New York Giants hiring Jason Garrett - Nick Schwartz, For the Win

With former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett heading off to the Big Apple, fans have plenty of different reactions and the people over at For the Win have collected a few of them for us.

Garrett previously served as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2010, when he became the Cowboys’ head coach. During his 13 full seasons as a coordinator and head coach in Dallas, the Cowboys ranked fourth in the NFL in yards per game (367) and sixth in the NFL in points per game (24.3), according to ESPN. Giants fans have been roasting Garrett for years as a divisional rival, but reaction to the hire from analysts and fans on social media has been mixed.

5 things to know about Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett - Dan Salomone, Giants

Many of us already know quite a bit about Garrett, but base camp of the Giants highlight five things for their fans, including how Garrett’s been around some very good coaches in his career.

4. As a player in Dallas, Garrett learned under Jimmy Johnson, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week. He served as a backup to Troy Aikman in offenses directed by Norv Turner and Ernie Zampese. He also played for then-Giants offensive coordinator Sean Payton, a Super Bowl-winning head coach for the Saints. Garrett finished his playing days while studying under Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay and started his coaching career with the Miami Dolphins, where he worked under Nick Saban. New Giants head coach Joe Judge also served under Saban at Alabama.

Cowboys Rivals: What to Expect From Garrett as Giants OC? - Mauricio Rodriguez, Inside the Star

New Giants offensive coordinator will face his former team twice a year, but what should we expect with Garrett running the offense?

Garrett could actually find some level of success in his new team. He’s got the pieces to work with. Quarterback Daniel Jones was a turnover machine at times, but the 2019 sixth overall pick showed promising signs when playing his rookie season and should only improve. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Garrett helps Jones develop around a new system. After all, he did a good job with Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

The Giants also have a workhorse running back in Saquon Barkley. While we can debate if “establishing a run” is a thing or not, we know Garrett likes to run the football and with Barkley in the backfield he should be able to do so. The Giants do have considerable talent at other positions on offense, including Tight End Evan Engram and Wide Receivers Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard. Garrett was a good offensive coordinator for the Cowboys before stepping up to a head coaching position.

Now with the Giants, he’ll be calling the plays, something he hasn’t done since 2012 and allegedly one of his complaints in the 2019 season, when he was coaching for his job.

Summer School: The Air Coryell Offense - Alex Sinclair, Big Blue View

Our sister site, Big Blue View, examines what the Giants offense may look like with Garrett at the helm, as well as some notes to remember about JG’s time in Dallas.

A few other notes:

In his two seasons, Saquon Barkley has averaged 16.3 and 16.7 carries per game. Ezekiel Elliott has averaged more than 20 carries in three of four seasons, with 18.8 per game in 2019 being a career-low.

The idea that Garrett runs a low-completion percentage passing attack isn’t really right. Dak Prescott has never completed less than 62.9 percent of his passes, and his four-year career mark is 65.8 percent. Tony Romo completed 69.5 percent of his throws with Garrett calling plays in 2010, and never had a year below 61.5 percent with Garrett as offensive coordinator.

The Dallas passing attack undeniably got more aggressive in 2019 with Kellen Moore calling plays, as Prescott’s Intended Air Yards per attempt jumped from 7.5 to 9.2. By comparison, Daniel Jones averaged 8.0 Intended Air Yards per attempt in 2019.

Now comes the hard part for Jason Garrett: Helping these Giants go where his Cowboys couldn’t - David Moore, Dallas Morning News

Garrett has a pretty good track record in Dallas in terms of winning, but will he be able to help New York take it to the next level?

The Cowboys never made it past the divisional around of the playoffs under Garrett. But the team did win three division titles in five seasons before it flat lined in 2019. New England was the only franchise that won more division titles in that span. Seattle was the only team in the conference that won more regular-season games than the Cowboys in that five-year stretch.

Garrett was also more effective as an offensive coordinator than critics are willing to concede. The Cowboys finished second in scoring and third in yards during Garrett’s first season as a coordinator in ’07. Dallas finished in the top seven three times and was never lower than No. 13 in his four-plus seasons as coordinator.

How Giants’ Hiring Of Ex-Cowboys Coach Garrett Is a ‘Jerry Jones-Like’ Move - Mike Fisher, Sports Illustrated

Are the Giants following suit to how Jerry Jones used to operate when it comes to selecting the coaching staff?

Judge has a view of Garrett, the just-deposed Dallas Cowboys coach, all gleaned from second-hand information. Judge conceded that before this week’s job interview that he only “knew about” Garrett via his high profile in Dallas and people who “I came across in my career at both Alabama and at the New England Patriots that worked with Jason through their time in Miami with him.” The truth is, as we pointed out here when news of the interview first broke, Garrett in New York is more about the desires of Giants ownership than it is about Judge, 38, who is a head coach for the first time at any level.

That doesn’t mean the marriage won’t work—though it’s ironic that the Giants’ move here in “ownership picking the staff” is the sort of move Garrett’s old bosses, the Jones family, have been so often ripped for. (Not this year, however, as Garrett’s replacement, Mike McCarthy, says “I have absolute final decision on my coaching staff.’’)

3 Trade candidates Mike McCarthy could ship out - Randy Gurzi, NFL Spin Zone

With a new head coach, could McCarthy shake up the roster by dealing away a key veteran?

2. Tyrone Crawford, Defensive Lineman Another player who could be on the trading block is defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford. While he is a very talented player, Crawford enters 2020 with a rather high price tag. OverTheCap.com has him with a cap hit of $9.1 million and if the Cowboys decided to trade him, they could save $8 million while having just $1.1 million in dead money to deal with.

The problem is, there might not be many takers unless Crawford was willing to restructure his current deal. A third-round pick out of Boise State in 2012, Crawford was one of many players to come from the BSU pipeline that Jason Garrett had a strong affinity for. Dallas has been more than thrilled with the results as Crawford has been a solid player despite never finding a true home on the line.

When he first joined the team, he was used as a defensive end in the 3-4 system Rob Ryan ran. He then missed all of his second season with an injury but returned in 2014 and played defensive tackle in Rod Marinelli’s 4-3.

Just Trade Me: Promising NFL Youngsters Who Need a Fresh Start - Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report

With Byron Jones and Anthony Brown entering free agency, the Cowboys could be looking for some help at the cornerback position. Could they target one of Mike McCarthy’s former players?

Josh Jackson, CB

Green Bay Packers cornerback Josh Jackson has had his role limited by other players on the roster. The 2018 second-round pick started 10 games as a rookie and produced an impressive 10 passes defended to go with 49 total tackles. However, he has been pushed down the depth chart this year by players like Jaire Alexander and Kevin King. Missing much of training camp also caused Jackson to fall behind some lesser-known players with special teams value.

“Will Redmond and Chandon [Sullivan] both have played a lot of reps and gotten their own little niche in what they’re doing,” defensive coordinator Mike Pettine explained after Jackson was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career back in November. Having Jackson as a depth player is great for Green Bay, but a change of scenery could give him the chance to be a quality NFL starter.

Teams looking for help at the cornerback position, like the Philadelphia Eagles, would make sense. The Cowboys are another potential option. New Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy coached Jackson for much of the 2018 season, and the team is set to potentially lose Byron Jones in free agency.

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