Dwayne-Harris

Dwayne Harris was a big addition on special teams.

(Chris Faytok | NJ Advance Media)

The Giants did something right this past season. It wasn't making the playoffs (whiffed on that again) or anything to do with their defense (which finished dead last in the league). It was the play of their special teams, thanks in part to the addition of special teams extraordinaire Dwayne Harris.



No matter how you twist the numbers, the Giants special teams were drastically improved from the past few years. So good, in fact, they finished second in the annual Rick Gosellin The Dallas Morning News special team rankings. Only the Baltimore Ravens fared better.



The Giants finished 25th last season and 28th in 2013. This was their best season since Tom Quinn took over as special teams coordinator in 2007.

Giants Special Teams Rankings 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Ranking 2 25 28 7 22 30 20 4 17 Points 271.5 423 410.5 310.5 397.5 445.5 384 269.5 376.5



Gosselin ranks every franchise in 22 special teams categories each year. He assigns points according to their standings - one for the best, 32 for the worst. The lower the total the better.



The Giants finished with 271.5 points, 151.5 points less than the previous season.



With Harris as their primary returner on both kicks and punts, the Giants showed massive improvement in their return games. They finished seventh in punt returns at 10.2 yards and 10th in kickoff returns at 24.9 yards. They were 19th and 17th, respectively, last season.



Harris, who signed a five-year, $17.5 million deal last offseason, returned a punt and kickoff for a touchdown, despite being slowed late in the season by numerous injuries.



The former Cowboys returner wasn't the only reason for the greatly-improved special teams. The Giants invested heavily in the offseason in improving all their units. Linebackers Jonathan Casillas and J.T. Thomas were signed with the intention they would be significant contributors on special teams this season. Each played their part.



Safety Craig Dahl was also signed before the start of the season and finished with a team-high 12 special teams tackles. Linebacker Mark Herzlich finished second with nine.

Many of the Giants' roster decisions were centered around special teams. The Giants kept fullback Nikita Whitlock this summer over veteran Henry Hynoski because of his special teams prowess and acquired punter Brad Wing in a trade with the Steelers to replace Steve Weatherford before the start of the season. Wing averaged 44.5 yards per punt. Whitlock was a staple on just about every unit.

Kicker Josh Brown was a key contributor to the 23-spot jump the Giants made in the year-over-year rankings. He finished tops in the NFL by making 93.8 percent of his field goal attempts.

The Giants also had one of the best kickoff return coverage units. They finished fifth in the NFL allowing just 20.3 yards per return.

All in all, it was a solid season for the special teams. They were even better than the Cowboys (4), Eagles (5) and Redskins (13) in an NFC East that featured some quality special teams play.

Jordan Raanan may be reached at jraanan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanRaanan. Find NJ.com Giants on Facebook.