Sure, he has heard it. How could he not?
It is constant. It started back in the spring, intensified and increased now that summer is here and training camp has commenced. The praise has been spoken with almost reverential deference, as if his new Giants teammates are somewhat in awe of what Darren Waller brings to the field and what they anticipate as his contribution to the passing attack.
Waller is listed as a tight end. He might as well have Top Target listed as his job description. Or else “freak,’’ which is the way several impressed players refer to him.
Yeah, he has heard that.
“I guess it’s for my size and my weight and I guess the way that I run and the multitude of routes I try to be able to be able to be comfortable running,’’ Waller said Friday, smiling. “And a lot of guys don’t necessarily do that.’’
No, a lot of guys are not necessarily capable of doing that. The Giants, last in the NFL in 2022 in pass plays of 20 or more yards, need an injection of dynamism into their attack and, when healthy, Waller adds both qualities in abundance. He was once a feared weapon for the Raiders — his 107-catch, 1,196-yard, nine-touchdown 2022 season led to Waller becoming (at the time) the highest-paid tight end in the league — but the Giants acquired him for a third-round draft pick as a 30-year-old with an injury history.
The version of the player at the peak of his athletic gifts is what the Giants have seen thus far. At 6-foot-6 and 238 pounds, Waller is a gazelle in motion, with long arms and longer legs, cutting through or rising up over the defense with equal aplomb.
“A locomotive rolling real fast,’’ receiver Darius Slayton said. “Ain’t nobody tackling that, I think.’’
Safety Xavier McKinney, the best the Giants put on the field as a tight end inhibitor, backs down to no one, but sounded a bit perplexed over how to deal with Waller.
“Great hands, can run routes like a regular wideout, can run all the routes,’’ McKinney said. “Pretty much can do everything. Being as big as he is, you don’t see guys that big that can move like that. So, it makes him real special. It makes him a tough cover every time.
“When I am on him, it puts me on high alert. I have to be because I know that every play, he can get the ball.’’
The Giants are not going to get the ball to Waller on every play, but he will be a focal point for Daniel Jones whenever a pass play is called. Under head coach Brian Daboll, a former tight ends coach and innovative play-caller, and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, with a background that includes the Chiefs and tight end Travis Kelce, Waller is receiving high-level tutoring.
He said he enjoys that there is “certain freedom on certain routes’’ and that “it doesn’t have to be super rigid or a way that it’s drawn up in the playbook’’ as long as he adheres to the basic concepts of the route and the intention of the play.
On a third-and-short call, Waller said he must know where he needs to get to — “run to this landmark’’ — but improvisation is allowed.
“If you can put your own little sauce on it and get open it’s encouraged, as long as the fundamentals are there and your knowledge of what the defense is doing and your timing in the concept is there,’’ Waller said.
Keeping Waller available is the key. He missed six games with knee and ankle issues in 2021 and his 2022 season was forgettable, as he missed eight games with thigh and hamstring injuries. He will be monitored in camp and the workload for him will not be as heavy as it is for others.
“Some of the players we want to have a good plan for as we go through training camp,’’ Daboll said. “So whether that’s a little less reps, eventually a day off, however it may be. Certainly he is one of those guys we have definitely talked about.’’
When he is participating, Waller will likely continue to provide exploits that prompt teammates to laud him.
“It’s crazy because they tried to double team him in the offseason camp but he’s just a freak of an athlete,’’ receiver Parris Campbell said.
That’s … nice to hear.
“It’s an honor for my teammates to speak of me in that way because these are guys who do it at a high level and have done it for a really long time,’’ Waller said.
As for being called “a freak,’’ he said, “I’ll take it.’’
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