One of the biggest differences for this year's New York Giants is their special teams. First-year head coach John Harbaugh and coordinator Chris Horton have revamped the team, making it the NFL's top unit after four weeks.
Special Teams EPA through Week 4
— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) October 6, 2026
1. NYG +22.4
2. IND +17.4
3. MIN +17.1
...
29. LAC -17.3
30. HOU -17.7
31. MIA -19.5
32. TEN -21.1
29-32: all AFC & 0-4 pic.twitter.com/DGrepxWZm7
The Giants have been steady in their coverage of punts and kickoffs, ranking 15th and 12th, respectively, in the NFL this year.
On Wednesday, Harbaugh was asked about the team's kicking woes over the past several seasons and what has changed in the way the current unit operates.
"I mean, it used to be easy. You kick a touchback, and it's a gift. Good
field position for your defense," Harbaugh told reporters. "They eliminated that because they want more returns, which I'm always for more. You want special teams in the game, of course. You can quibble with the play itself. You can quibble with how safe it is and all that. But it has helped. And so, I think they're heading in the right direction with it.
"But how does it change your strategy? I think you better have a good kickoff team. Because if you don't have a good kickoff team, then you're going to have to kick it in the end zone. If you're afraid of them taking it back to the house, then you're going to kick a touchback. And then they're going to have the ball at the 35. These field goal kickers now, especially early in the season, two first downs, man, or one big chunk play, and they're possibly kicking the game-winning field goal.
"So, we're going to have to try to get them a little deeper than that. Try to get them back to inside the 25 if we can. But it definitely skews the field position in favor of the offense after a kickoff, which is probably something the league is okay with."
The rule changes are the ones the NFL instituted in 2024, more commonly known as the "dynamic kickoff."
Under these rules, any kickoff that goes out of the end zone for a touchback is placed at the 35-yard-line. A kick that lands in the landing zone and is downed in the end zone gets placed at the 20. Any kick that lands short of the landing zone is blown dead and placed at the 40-yard-line.
The ideal kick would land in the "landing zone," which is between the goal line and the 20-yard-line, and is returned to the 20 or 25-yard-line.
Giants rookie kicker Dominic Zvada has kicked off 19 times so far this year; 16 have been returned for 1,176 yards for an average of 25.1 per attempt. Three have gone for touchbacks.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants special teams lead NFL as John Harbaugh details kickoff approach
