New York Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Lack of No. 1 WR biggest problem with Giants offense?

The New York Giants improved to 2-0 on the young season via this past Sunday's 19-16 win over the Carolina Panthers but were only bumped up from No. 24 overall to No. 19 in the latest edition of ESPN power rankings

Some may point to the underwhelming play of quarterback Daniel Jones for why many view the Giants as pretenders instead of contenders heading into the upcoming "Monday Night Football" home game against the 1-1 Dallas Cowboys. However, ESPN's Jordan Raanan has suggested the New York offense has a different problem to tackle and needs to find a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver before Monday's prime-time encounter. 

"It could be (second-year pro) Kadarius Toney," Raanan noted. "He handled a bigger workload in Week 2, but he still had just two catches for zero yards. It could be Kenny Golladay, who saw just two snaps Sunday, or Sterling Shepard, who leads the Giants with 14 targets through two weeks. Or Richie James, who leads the team with 10 catches for 110 yards. As coach Brian Daboll said after this week's win over Carolina, there will be a 'continual competition' at wide receiver to determine playing time and, ultimately, targets. But someone needs to step up." 

In a different ESPN piece, Raanan explained that rookie Wan'Dale Robinson will likely take targets away from James when he returns from a knee injury. 

Meanwhile, Golladay publicly complained on Wednesday about logging only two offensive snaps in the win over Carolina. Perhaps head coach Brian Daboll was trying to light a fire under the big-money free-agency acquisition from 2021, or maybe Golladay truly is already out of favor with the first-year coaching staff. 

Whatever the case with Golladay, the Giants rank 31st out of 32 teams in passing yards and are averaging a pitiful 159.0 yards through the air after two games. Raanan made it clear it's on more than just Jones to improve that stat beginning Monday night at MetLife Stadium.

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