The New York Giants reported for OTAs over the past week, and second-year tight end Theo Johnson’s size stood out in the eyes of SNY insider Connor Hughes.
Johnson has always been tall, standing at 6-foot-6, but Hughes noted that the promising draft pick “looks bigger” in 2025.
“The tight ends ran through individual drills in front of the media and the second-year tight end stood out,” Hughes continued. Adding: “The Giants have told everyone how high they are on him.”
Johnson had a nice rookie debut before his season-ending foot injury, catching 29 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown. Obviously, the Giants will need and expect more from him in year two, but that’s not bad for a 12-game campaign considering he was originally billed as a developmental tight end.
On that note, Hughes acknowledged that “Johnson developing into a weapon would be huge for the offense.” The reporter relayed that the projected TE1 “didn’t make much noise in team drills on Wednesday, [May 28].”
Giants Need Theo Johnson to Turn Into What Darren Waller Was Supposed to Be
Right now, few writers and analysts see the Giants as a potential playoff team in 2025. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible.
Head coach Brian Daboll knows firsthand that you can take the league by surprise. After all, he did it in his inaugural season with Big Blue.
Having said that, in order to pull off the unexpected, you must have players exceed expectations. Johnson is one of those players who could do just that if it all comes together for him in 2025.
With better health, better quarterback play, and better weapons around him, Johnson could be set up for a 500-plus-yard campaign, minimum.
But what the Giants really need is for him to turn into what Darren Waller was supposed to be in New York.
Waller only played one season for the Giants before electing to retire. He was targeted 74 times that year, recording 52 receptions for 552 yards and a touchdown over 12 appearances.
If Waller had been healthier, it’s fair to say he might have reached or even topped 750 receiving yards in 2023, which would have justified the pair of trades that basically swapped a former first-round pick for Waller and cornerback Tre Hawkins.
Even if sending Kadarius Toney packing turned out to be the right decision, the Giants could have used that draft pick on a four-year contributor rather than Waller, but they had a specific plan for him within Daboll’s offense. Now they need Johnson to step into that role.
There’s Not Much of a Starting Tight End Competition at Giants OTAs
The Giants brought in competition at several positions this offseason, but tight end wasn’t one of them — at least not in the sense of someone unseating Johnson.
There should be competition behind Johnson with seventh-round pick Thomas Fidone II, 2024 pickup Greg Dulcich, and UDFA Jermaine Terry all potentially pushing fading ex-prospect Daniel Bellinger for the TE3 role.
But the top two spots seem pretty locked into place, with Johnson first on the depth chart as the top pass-catcher and veteran Chris Manhertz directly behind him as the number one blocking tight end on the roster.
The Giants did very little to threaten those two heading into OTAs, further reinforcing their faith in Johnson this season.
