Giants getting to know Kenny Golladay, their big offseason grab

Kenny Golladay made his first public appearance in a Giants uniform on Friday, participating in an OTA that was open to the media. The headliner of this year’s free agency class for the team was on the field catching passes, running routes and wearing his new number 19 jersey. It was a big step for both the wide receiver and the organization, the moment when his arrival began to exist in real physical terms, not just on paper rosters or in virtual meetings.

But the Giants still have a lot to learn about Golladay before the season begins. That includes figuring out where he will best fit in with an offense that sputtered through most of 2020.

They signed Golladay to fix that problem. Now they have to determine how he can best do that.

"When you add new players to the roster through free agency or the draft, you're going to try to build in different things that fit to their strengths," Joe Judge said on Friday. "Obviously there's going to be an element of what he did so well in Detroit that we'll try to incorporate and let him play to his strengths, and then we'll try to find things that fit us that he hasn't done in the past and make sure we fit them in as we go."

Those "strengths" from his time in Detroit?

"Everyone saw on tape this guy has been a physical player for years," Judge said. "He's made a lot of tough catches, a lot of big plays with the ball in his hand running. He brings a physical toughness; that's something we saw on tape, and we plan on building into his strengths whatever we can do with our offense."

That could take a while. Sure, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and the rest of the staff have probably been scribbling out plays and brainstorming ideas that will allow Golladay to jump-start the offense. They’ve been doing the same with first-round pick Kadarius Toney and the other play-makers they made such a point of acquiring this offseason, too. Now, though, they have to see if those concepts can be executed. They need to merge fanciful visions with concrete skills. It’s something that will be concocted throughout the summer, likely right up to the start of the regular season.

Friday was a first step in that process.

"Like all of our players, we are trying to right now get these guys in playing shape, get them caught up on our schemes and systems," Judge said.

And continue matching up the schemes and systems to the players.

Notes & quotes: Despite the clear competitive incentives for players to be vaccinated against COVID-19, along with the recommendations of both the league and the union, Judge said he has steered away from advising anyone on the matter. "When it comes to anything dealing with medical protocols, vaccinations, I'm not a medical professional," Judge said. "I let our training staff and doctors talk to the team in regard to that … Everyone has a choice to make. So that's their decision. I'm not getting involved in that." Judge did say that he has been vaccinated, which allowed him to be part of the team’s draft room in April and unhindered access to other areas of the building. "That's something that for myself I thought was important to do," he said. He was careful, though, to keep that personal decision separate from any policy or advocacy. "That’s not any kind of statement one way or the other," he said … The Giants’ next day of on-field work will be Tuesday, the start of the mandatory minicamp … Kadarius Toney did not participate in the first two weeks of OTAs, but the first-round pick did show up on Friday to sign his rookie contract. Toney’s signature completes the signing of the entire Giants draft class. The wide receiver is expected to be on the field for next week’s mandatory minicamp along with the rest of the team.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.