Darren Waller Ready to Set Standard in Giants’ Season Opener

New York Giants tight end Darren Waller is excited for his first real taste of the Big Apple gridiron.

New York Giants tight end Darren Waller has played several primetime games. Still, there's just something about this weekend's 2023 regular-season home opener against the Dallas Cowboys, which will be played under the lights.

“I’m excited, man, just trying to stay within the day, you know?” Waller told reporters Tuesday. “Every day of practice leads to a good game on Sunday, so not trying to get too excited, peak before then. Just trying to keep building as the week goes.”

While the former Raiders tight end is entering his first season in East Rutherford after being acquired in an offseason trade, he is by no means a stranger to the rivalry being renewed on Sunday Night Football.

The 30-year-old grew up in Landover, Maryland, in a family embroiled in the Giants’ historic division rivalries and the environment they created. Now, he’s donning the blue helmet and jersey of the team he once rooted for and will experience the intensity of the matchup as one of their premier pass weapons.

“Growing up in a house with my parents, NFC East fans, I know the history. I know how heated and competitive these games have been over the years, and I know what I’m about to step into on Sunday,” Waller said about his appreciation for the Giants-Cowboys rivalry. “I am honored to take the field.”

Certainly, the Giants and their opponent on the other side of the turf know what Waller will bring to the table as they battle for early divisional supremacy. The 2015 sixth-round pick out of Georgia Tech enters his ninth NFL season boasting consecutive 1,100-yard receiving lines with the Raiders, including a double-digit average reception and 12 combined touchdowns. A hefty 197 of his 298 career hauls came in 2019 and 2020 alone and helped him lead the tight end position in the latter campaign.

Anywhere he goes beyond the line of scrimmage, Waller has also prided himself on being an incredibly efficient and reliable option for the quarterback. Per PFF, the 6-foot-6, 245 player has been active for 2,071 passing snaps and has run for a receiving route on 86.7 percent of those reps. In that span, he’s been able to secure at least 61.1 percent of his targets in eight seasons and take on routes with an average distance of 9.1 yards to extend drives from various parts of the field.

That ability to be versatile and an absolute receiving nightmare makes Waller one of the most lucrative signings of the offseason for New York as they seek to close the offensive gap with teams like the Cowboys. The spotlight will certainly be on him from the jump on Sunday, and he is ready for all the Dallas secondary will throw at him throughout the contest.

“They are a zone team early downs, and once you get third down, they are a little more man coverage. They have some good safeties, they’ve got (Cowboys safety Jayron) Kearse--he’s a solid, big dude, and he’s got a lot of skills,” Waller said.

“I think (Cowboys safety Donovan) Wilson, I mean really all those guys, (Cowboys safety Malik) Hooker, can play, and you’ll see some of those corners as well because they’ll match. It’ll be man (coverage) when you are out wide. They’ve got a lot of talented cover players, so that’s who you want to go up against.”

Even when the Cowboys might think they have done their homework on Waller and figured out a way to limit his production, it’s easy for an opponent to forget what the tight end’s presence means for the rest of the players on the offense.

By having an extra passing threat lined up inside or out wide, the Giants can take advantage of their stalwart, forcing an extra defender to decide between stacking the box or shutting down the potential for deep-field play action routes.

If the defense elects to send the extra man outside to follow and produce double coverage on Waller, it’ll free up space in the box for running back Saquon Barkley to take control of the pigskin and cause damage up the middle or along the sidelines. If the defender stays committed to impeding the ball carrier and stuffing the run game early on, the Giants can punish them with a combo of play-action routes that will put the secondary’s backs against the endzone fast.

The 2020 Pro Bowler called his partnership with Barkley a “blessing” and noted how spoiled he is to be able to open things up for his teammates’ attributes to shine.

“I feel like defenses kind of have to make decisions, they want to put the extra guy in the box, which you have to do to stop 26. You know, you need as many bodies as possible, but when you do that, you are more susceptible to those play actions and over routes, which I feel I’ve succeeded a lot at in my career, creating a good harmony.”

Beyond the pressure of finding those holes to tally production and excelling on the field, the same emphasis will be applied to Waller dealing with the expectations from the stands. Given his accolades and potent intangibles, there has already been an outside bar set for the tight end to surpass triple-digit yardage and stand among the top receiving leaders nightly. A portion of that skillset was seen in his limited snaps during the preseason, and it’s fair to assume the New York market is already putting its new star on a pedestal.

Instead of letting it get to his head before the first whistle blows, the storied veteran knows he has to simply make the most of his opportunities, and the rest will come. Asked how he feels about the weight of outsider expectations for the season opener, Waller spoke about “setting a standard” and holding that mindset for the journey ahead.

“I actually watched a video--I don’t know if you know who (motivational speaker and former college football player) Inky Johnson is, but he had a video talking about expectations are external, but standards are what’s internal.”

“You can have a standard that’s what you have for yourself, and know like, alright, my standard is however many plays come to me. However many opportunities come to me, I try to make the most of those, and if it ends up being eight for some bigger plays, then that is what it is, but just one at a time, trying to keep it as simple as possible.”

Regardless of what happens on the field, Waller will help flank the Giants with a much-improved corps of wide receivers this fall, making opposing defenses think twice about overlooking their passing attack. Gone are the days of loading up the box, shutting down the legs of the operation, and betting that underdog names make a few big catches to solidify a victory down the stretch.

With pieces like him that can hit the different levels and secure the most highly contested footballs, it’s time for Big Blue’s offense to open up the floodgates and force the attention of the defense to bring the kitchen sink if they don’t want to leave East Rutherford on the losing end. That all starts on Sunday night in an NFC East classic and Waller is beyond excited to get the ball rolling on his next biggest tenure.

“I think these games are dope. When I was in Vegas, we had a primetime game pretty early. We played the Saints and the Ravens the following year, so just having those games out of the gate is exciting. Those are the kind of environments that you want to play in--everybody’s watching and playing against a really good team. I feel like it will bring the best out of you early on.”

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