Robinson, Donnell, Davis, Fells, and Grimble

Who was the white-shoe lawfirm representing my 1st wife in the divorce proceedings?

but really hoping McAdoo is gonna get a little hands on with the TEs.

I just hope they have a LT

raised the same questions in our BBI TE preview article.

Hopefully another Ballard emerges out of nowhere.

Why fans of this team obsess about the tight end position mystifies me. We can be mediocre this year and improve on last year. it's not like we just lost Jason Witten to retirement and need to replace 73 catches, 8 touchdowns and 44 first downs a season. Chillax.

But the Giants haven't featured the TE since Shocky and McAdoo can certaily see he doesn't have a star TE and will adjust accordingly. The Giants have won two Super Bowls with very average TEs. Just don't understand to obsession with TE as if they are some great key to the team's success. It was the same during the draft as if this was the #1 team need. As was mentioned above, if you want to obsess, obsess about LT.

Is Davis the guy critics say is slow as Eli?

I was shocked at how big Fells arms are. Massive...

I'll have to check it out. Was there a discussion thread about it? I don't remember seeing it.

Really strange (and pretty useless) responses, since there's no "obsessing" going on here.

It's a discussion about whether the current tight ends are go enough. That it mystifies or bothers you is really odd.

In comment 11771128 Exit 172 said:

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Really strange (and pretty useless) responses, since there's no "obsessing" going on here. It's a discussion about whether the current tight ends are go enough. That it mystifies or bothers you is really odd.

Seriously. A week before camp opens, and you want to discuss some of the Giants players? What nerve.

and let the best 2 of Robinson, Donnell, Fells and Grimble earn 2 roster spots as our potential pass catchers

You obviously think "This team's lack of a tight end has really hurt this offense." is a real possibility. Maybe that's not obsessing but given how the Giants have used TE and the players like Boss and Ballard that have been good enough to win SB with you seem to have a real concern. If Boss and Ballrd could get it done then Robinson or Donnell can too. Do I know this? No. Do you know they can't. No. If there is going to be one position on this team with the biggest question mark, I'm glad it's TE. Think of the alternatives.

will tell Mc what he has to work with. As the OC he will have to adjust his O, as a result of good or bad TE play, accordingly.
As long as we have a good blocking TE for a ball control running game, the rest will take care of itself.
The team is a work in progress, and unless a whole lot comes together quickly, I expect lots of argitta early in the season until whatever necessary adjustments are made and enacted. Loving the 5th p-s game just when we need it most.

But when they produced, many of us credited Pope more than anything else. And he's gone now.

But can a revolving door of mediocre/unproven tight ends really sustain itself? Losing Pope and going back to the "unknown/unproven" well just seems a bit dangerous to me in the 2014 NFL. A decade or more ago, I wouldn't be as concerned. But it seems like most teams have a big, athletic receiving threat at tight end now, and it's critical for sustaining drives.

Now, of all teams, the Super Bowl champion Seahawks did not really have that threat. But with that defense, they could have fielding 10 guys on offense and still won games!

There is no doubt, and Davis I can see as our 2nd TE in blocking downs. Donnell is the one I'd watch out for, he's a lot more athletic than he appears, he has flashed here and there, I would not be shocked if he emerged.

I agree with you. I think it may between Donnel and Grimble for the 3rd slot. Although, Grimble would have to really outshine because sticking him on the practice squad is a real possibility.

It was the Giants who didn't want him back...right?

Donnells and Robinson will likely be better than they were last year, not likely to be worse. Fells and Davis are better than Myers and Pascoe - admittedly the bar was not set very high. Gimble is a bit of a wildcard.

It is not a great group unless someone breaks out, but it should be better than last year and could even end up being better than average.

My main concerns with this team are OL, OL, OL, and a little bit if Eli can bounce back or will he still be shell shocked from last year.

In comment 11771426 Reale01 said:

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Donnells and Robinson will likely be better than they were last year, not likely to be worse.

Donnell caught all of 3 passes and Robinson was in on one play all last season, the opening kickoff versus Detroit and got injured and was done.

So no, not likely to be worse...

Their team has to find a replacement for a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame TE from among Levine Toilolo, Mickey Shuler Jr., Bear Pascoe and Jacob Pedersen.

Here's another encouraging thought, from our new OC's history: In Super Bowl XLV, McAdoo's TEs caught two passes for six yards. In the Packers' six-game title run, the troika of Quarless, Crabtree and Lee averaged two catches for under seventeen yards per game. Would the offense have been better with Finley? Maybe, but it didn't need him.

In their last three games, the Packers drew the Falcons, Bears and Steelers, who were ranked #5, #4 and #1 in the NFL in points allowed. (The Packers themselves were #2, and the Ravens were #3; since Green Bay could only play one AFC team, it was impossible for their offense to face stiffer opposition.)

The Packers scored 100 points in those three games. The total contribution of their TEs? Four catches for 20 yards and zero TDs.

Small sample, obviously. The point is, there's more than one way for Ben McAdoo to skin a cat. If a Jermichael Finley doesn't emerge from the Giants' tight ends, there's still the possibility that Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham, Rueben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan (or others) might follow in the footsteps of Greg Jennings, James Jones, Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson.

just what I was thinking: in the last 3-4 yrs as good as GB's passing attack has been in general we're not looking at definitively better TEs compared to our current stock (save Finley if anything). Not to say a high level TE wouldn't help our O, but it seems it's not necessarily as important an issue between their success as well as our own SB runs.

This is the least of my concerns. I feel with those five, two will rise up and play well enough. I'm more concerned about OL and QB.

If you take the time to look at depth charts around the league, you'll notice every team has a legit concern on both sides of the ball. NYG did a great job of addressing the OL...I'm not sure it was enough but they definitely put enough resources in to fixing the unit. As for TE...count me in to the group that thinks they have tried to hard to "get cute" here.

There is an obvious lack of NFL caliber talent here...established NFL talent anyway. The guy I feel most confident in from a catch AND block perspective is Davis. I liked him in Chicago and there are tools to work with here. Former basketball player that has the feet and body awareness in traffic when going after the ball. Physical guy as well that used to be a defensive player in college. He has the blend of tools and physicality that you want in there all three downs no matter the situation.

NYG is hoping they get lucky on Robinson/Donnell/Grimble trio. It worked out for them in the past, but odds are none of them make a legit difference. I'll be curious to see how they work within this offense. None of them are particularly quick-twitched...an asset I would think is necessary for a receiving TE in this offense but I could be wrong. None of them can get up the seam with speed and I haven't seen the ball skills in traffic...but I don't get to watch practice either.

Out of the guys above...I have always thought there is some upside in Donnell that a lot of other guys don't have. He can be explosive and he just moves like a guy that could create mismatches. Would love to see him get a shot.

don't have to actually have huge stats to be contributors to the offense. As long as the defense has to account for them when they're on the field, that is drawing resources and opening up things for other targets on offense. Even if the Packer's tight ends didn't record much passing stats, they still contributed to the offense in a positive way for them to win the Super Bowl. It's a team game. We all saw what happened to our offense in 2008 thanks to Plaxico..

be used as a receiver as well as a blocker. Frankly, there is no certainty that these guys can even block on an NFL level.

It should not take the Giants more than a week of training camp to determine if any of the current group is an NFL caliber blocker/receiver. My guess is that one or more will be replaced after the first week and that the Giants will be actively searching the waiver wire or looking to trade a draft choice to get a decent player.

Will be an improvement over Pope. And that translates to the players on the roster. Pope gets a lot of cred for developing Ballard and Boss, but he was also the guy in charge last year when no one emerged.

I think KG Jr establishes his own reputation, we get regular season contributions from Robinson, Donnell and Davis. And we're much improved over 2013.

on average in the Giants offense the TE was 35-40 catches.. 500-600 yards and 4-5 TD's.... someone will be able to do that..

JR is pretty level headed. Can anyone recall him needlessly gushing over a project?
I believe JR and the project has had two years to learn. Barring another injury we have a star and from the other crew emerge players at least the equal of Ballard.
. This is a position of strength.
. The Grizz nose.

Exactly they can't be worse. Last year was VERY bad. We are better IMO.

this year by just not being any good or injuries, they have to wave good-bye to him.

The TE position is the way it is because the Giants prioritized their greatest needs. They put $ into the Oline and RBs. WR is improved. You can't fix everything in 1 off season.

Kellen Winslow JR. is still available if the Giants want to take a whack at him.

In comment 11771465 Jimmy Googs said:

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In comment 11771426 Reale01 said: Quote: Donnells and Robinson will likely be better than they were last year, not likely to be worse. Donnell caught all of 3 passes and Robinson was in on one play all last season, the opening kickoff versus Detroit and got injured and was done. So no, not likely to be worse...

We just have to make sure Donnell has his shoes tied tightly and wearing the right cleats.



Stay in bounds please on the touchdowns...