Travis Beckum, who also was hurt in the Super Bowl, will probably be like Jake Ballard, and not be ready to start the season next year.  Travis showed a little light at the end of the tunnel this year, but not enough to secure him a spot on the roster, or to excite too many fans about the promise he supposedly possesses.

Bear Pascoe will now move to at or near the head of the line.  Bear was always held back because he was used as a fullback at times, and is not a prototypical Tight End.  He struggles with his blocking, a key to being a Giants Tight End, and has yet to show his true potential either.  The Bear did show a bit more in the post season, but in this era of Jimmy Graham (N.O.), Jermichael Finley (G.B.), and Antonio Gates (S.D.) the Giants could use a big play guy at this position.

Christian Hopkins 6’5″ 277 a second year man out of Toledo is the new project if you will.  Jerry Reese says he has the tools, the hands, the size, to be a good Tight End.  This we will have to see.

In free agency the Giants signed TE Martellus Bennett away from the Cowboys.  They re-structured his contract to give him a one year try-out with the Giants.  He stepping out of the shadow of one of the most productive tight ends of the last 10 years in Jason Witten.  He says he is ready, we will see.

The Giants also took a young man on draft day in Adrien Robinson who is 6’4″ and 264 pounds.  He is another raw talent for Mike Pope the tight ends coach to mold into a player.  He fits the model of the new bigger athletic tight end in the NFL and it will be fun to watch him develop.

Also on the team and competing for a spot are: LArry Donnell 6’6″ 269 from Grambling, and Ryan Purvis at 6’4″ and 264, a four year man out of Boston College.

One thing most fans seem to forget is no one knew who Jake Ballard was before the season began.  He made some nice strides and became a fast fan favorite.  We didn’t lose a hall of fame tight end, and the position is not the most important the Giants need to fill for another run.  I believe they have set themselves up well for the immediate future, and for the long term, as Jerry Reese often does.

Unfortunately, fan favorite Jake Ballard will not be returning.  His tear of an ACL in the Super Bowl has obviously not progressed the way he and the team would have liked and he has failed his physical.  Ballard finished fourth on the team with 38 catches for 604 yards and four TD’s.  The Giants have 7 TE’s on their current roster, and the position should be the one of the main battles in training camp in August.

The Giants will hold their last organized activity until that training camp this week, from Tuesday thru Thursday

Along with White the Giants signed Defensive End Craig Marshall, a former teammate of Jason Pierre Paul at USF, and Ryan Purvis a Tight End.  With Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum injured in Super Bowl 46, look for the Giants to stock up at the Tight End position as they look for a long term solution.  Purvis played for Tampa Bay in 2010 and had 5 receptions for 38 yards, three of them for first downs.  Purvis comes from Boston College, a school with which the Giants and Coach Coughlin have very close ties.

The amazingly short injury list for the New York Giants.  Only real question should be Herzlich.

Plan remains the same…No Herzlich, No Ballard.  Everyone else says they are ALL IN!

Here is the rather short and promising Giants early injury report.  The thought is the only players who will miss the game are Herzlich and Ballard.

The Giants will make a trip to Texas Sunday Night to begin what they hope to be a successful run to the playoffs;  And a run is what they will need.  The Giants got a nice effort from the running game yesterday and that will need to continue for the foreseeable future. Eli Manning has backed up his words with his actions this season.  He is an Elite QB and definitely in the top 5 or 6 in the league.

The Cowboys have been a very inconsistent team this entire season.  For the first part of the season they had no running attack, then they found DeMarco Murray.  Murray has rushed for 5.4 yards per carry in the 10 games he has played.  Now they have a more balanced attack, but make no mistakes this is a team that wins and loses with Tony Romo.  Even when the defense has had exceptional days, Romo can put points on the board for either team at any time.

The Giants defense should be able to get pressure on the Cowboys Qb this week.  They have allowed 25 sacks this year, that’s two a game against teams that have half the pass rushing talent of the New York Giants.  The Cowboys allow 100 yards a game rushing and 5.5 yards per play on defense.  They still have a weak secondary that the likes of Nicks, Cruz, Ballard, Beckum, Manningham(?) and others should be able to exploit.  The question will be can the Giants run the ball effectively enough to keep Eli upright.  If the Giants go back to being a one dimensional team, they will be eaten up by the Cowboys pass rush.  Stay balanced, hit big plays, and keep Romo under pressure and force him into mistakes.

Injury Update:  This of course will change as the week progresses but initially it looks like Kenny Phillips will be missing for the next two weeks and Osi is still out. OL Stacey Andrews will be out for the remainder of the season with blood clots that moved from his legs to his lungs.

“just saw a picture that made me sick to my stomach’’ and the fact that the Giants coach believes what’s in the picture validates his case didn’t help ease his queasiness.

Giants 100 yards rushing:  The Giants finally showed a semblance of a running game.  The re-made Offensive Line looked good, the tight ends blocked well, and the wide receivers got into the act also.  The difference Ahmad Bradshaw makes is palpable.  He even made Brandon Jacobs look like his old self.

Packers leading rusher is Rodgers: The Giants knocked RB Starks out of thegame, and held Ryan Grant to 13 carries for 29 yards.

Eli was 23/40 for 347 and 3 TD’s: Eli throws the long ball as good as anyone, and he used it all night to move the Giants down the field.  He also has great touch and chemistry near the goal line with Hakeem Nicks. Victor Cruz continues to impress as he went over 1,000 receiving tonight, and Jake Ballard is just tremendous at times.

Giants were 6/12 on offensive drives:  The Giants scored on 6 of their 12 offensive drives.

All in all the game WAS as close as the score:  The Giants had 447 total yards, The Packers had 449.   Third down conversions, one extra turnover, and having some inexperience on the field prevented a Giant win.  When the game was on the line Green Bay threw against a rookie linebacker, a third string corner that shouldn’t even be on the team in Wil Blackmon if everyone is healthy.  Give them credit, they had a minute to beat us and they did.  the Giants need to play with this focus, passion, and urgency on their last 4 games.  The Wild Card is still in play, and the Cowboys have beaten the Redskins in OT, beat Miami by one, and lost to Arizona in OT.  The Giants need to continue to show how good they can be.

I know it’s a little late for last game analysis, but Pro Football Focus has their weekly rewind of all the preseason games up, and something jumped out at me that I thought was worthy of another mention – Jake Ballard could be the best option at TE for the Giants.

Though it seemed like Travis Beckum would be the player to step up after Kevin Boss’ departure to Oakland, Jake Ballard used this game to show the coaching staff why he may be the better option. Ballard, a 2010 undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, was extremely impressive in his ability to block effectively. On a number of occasions, he was driving defenders down the field for so long, that the running back would be tackled before he had disengaged. It wasn’t just against linebackers and receivers, either, as on one play, he drove Jets’ rookie defensive tackle Wilkerson five yards down the field. Ballard certainly isn’t the weapon or threat that Beckum could be in the passing game, the Giants would be better off with Ballard who is definitely the better blocker of the two.

Given the fact that Beckum cannot block whatsoever, and Bear Pascoe has had an off preseason — I’ll take Ballard’s potential at starting TE any day of the week as one of the Giants bookends.  This year is one of those seasons for the Giants where young players are going to have to make the most of their opportunities, where better to start than at TE.  We know he can catch, we now know he can block… this might be the answer the Giants have been looking for.