New York Giants Position Review: Tight Ends

The Giants tight ends were supposed to be a big part of the offense in 2023.

The New York Giants coaches won't admit as much, but in shaping their tight end position, it's certainly fair to wonder if they envisioned the group emulating what the Kansas City Chiefs have with Travis Kelce being the top receiving target for quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

It was a nice thought, but the problem is the Giants don't have Kelce on the roster. They instead traded a third-round draft pick they had originally gotten in the Kadarius Toney trade with the Chiefs to acquire Darren Waller from the Raiders, a guy who, when healthy, was pretty good and a decent enough threat as a receiver.

Unfortunately, Waller's recent injury history continued when he came to New York, as he landed on injured reserve with another hamstring issue that cost him five games. Before that, he was hardly the difference maker on offense that many thought he might be based on watching him in training camp, where he was, at times, simply unguardable.

He recorded 52 catches, 25 of which went for first downs, but his longest catch was only 29 yards, and he only caught 1 TD pass. While part of that was on the offense's ineptness, Waller cannot be completely absolved.

Soon to be 32nd and with an injury history--not to mention he's not a blocker nor a contested catch champion--the Giants hopes of Waller being their No. 1 receiver just didn't pan out to where they might seriously want to reconsider the position's future.

Speaking of which, let's look at the rest of the unit.

Daniel Bellinger

Predictably, Bellinger's role on offense changed with the arrival of Waller, specifically his role as a pass catcher, where he got ten fewer targets in 2023 than in 2022, a season in which he missed four games with an eye injury.

While still very much a reliable pass catcher--he finished with an 89.3 catch percentage--Belligner's game took a step backward in the blocking department, kind of a weird occurrence given how he spent the off-season bulking up to look like a mini Hulk.

We're unsure whether it was technique, positioning, or something else, but Bellinger's blocking lacked the pop it had the previous season. That said, we hope that in 2024, the coaches get him more involved in the passing game. We realize there are only so many balls to go around, but when a player shows he's good at doing something, why would a coaching staff not look to take advantage of that in the weekly game plan?

Lawrence Cager

Cager, a converted wide receiver, was active for eleven 2023 games before going to IR late in December with a groin injury. As a third TE he caught just four balls, including his third career touchdown. Not much of a blocker either, Cager is a pending UFA, we'd be surprised if he's re-signed.

We wonder if the Giants might add a pure fullback to their offense to handle some of the blocking moving forward. It's more ideal to have tight ends do that type of work. Still, if the Giants are committed to running it back with Waller and Bellinger in 2024, they need to get some additional blocking as part of the deal and not just from an extra offensive lineman which, despite reporting as an eligible receiver, is usually a sign to the defense that they have one less person to worry about.

Tyree Jackson

If the Giants want to stick with a tight end for blocking instead of a fullback, perhaps Jackson could be that guy for them moving forward. Jackson spent most of last year on the practice squad, but the 26-year-old tight end has good size (6-7 and 250 pounds) and can block. He's a pending UFA and not a lock to return, however.

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