The New York Giants have been looking for an answer in the return game for at least a half-decade. They believe they've found one in Dwayne Harris.
Harris signed a five-year, $17.5 million free-agent contract with the Giants in March. Since then, you've heard Harris and team officials laud his versatility. He'll play on all four special teams units, they say. He can block in the run game and be something of a factor as a pass-catcher as well. Those things may all be true (though the last one still feels very speculative), but the main reason the Giants blew out the special-teams market for Harris was because of his abilities to return kicks and punts.
"He's decisive," Giants special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said Saturday, when asked about Harris' strengths as a return man. "There isn't a lot of wasted movement. He's physical, and he has a good understanding of the return schemes and what's needed for each one. There's no hesitation. If he's catching the ball and you're running it to the right, he's going to get it to the right, which sets up all of his blockers. They know where he's going to be. A lot of times, when you're blocking, the guy is supposed to be over here, but the returner is running the wrong direction and your block isn't set up for that. Not with him. He's very decisive."
Harris has ranked second, third and ninth in the NFL the past three years in punt-return average. He ranked second in the league in kick-return average in 2013 and 13th last year. This is a high-level performer at a spot where the Giants have been low-level performers.
Over the past five years, the Giants have ranked -- on average -- 21st in the league in kick-return average and 27th in punt-return average. The only time in the past five years in which they ranked better than 18th in either category was 2012, when David Wilson helped them finish seventh in kick-return average. Last year, helped in part by Odell Beckham Jr.'s 21 contributions to the cause, the Giants ranked 19th in punt-return average. But in the four years prior to that, they ranked 31st, 29th, 30th and 26th. The plain fact is that they have been terrible at this for a long time now.
And while the return man isn't the only factor in these statistical categories, there's no denying he's a huge one. If the Giants can improve their return-game blocking and if Harris can stay healthy (two big "if"s after the past couple of Giants seasons), then he may turn out to be one of the higher-impact offseason additions the Giants made.
