New York Giants are secretly building a juggernaut at TE position

New York Giants fans have been curious all offseason about who will win the No. 3 wideout job now that Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris are long gone.

General manager Dave Gettleman went out and grabbed Cody Latimer and Russell Shepard, who will compete this summer with Travis Rudolph and Roger Lewis in the New York Giants‘ rotation.

But let’s not sleep on the versatility of the G-Men’s tight end group headlined by sophomore Evan Engram.

Yes, the Giants were seriously banged up last season and had no choice but to move their 2017 first-rounder all over the offense. Despite his drops, he still compiled an impressive 64 catches for 722 yards and six touchdowns.

Just because Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard are 100 percent to start the new season doesn’t mean head coach Pat Shurmur should stop leaning on Engram in the passing game.

Nor should he ignore the depth behind No. 88, either.

Don’t be surprised to see the New York Giants implement more multiple tight end sets into their scheme. They certainly have the talent to do it with Gettleman’s known appetite for big-boy football.

The G-Men stocked up and are heading into training camp with a crop of seven tight ends on their roster: Engram, Rhett Ellison, Jerell Adams, Scott Simonson, Kyle Carter, Ryan O’Malley and Garrett Dickerson.

New York Giants

Dickerson was a 2018 undrafted free agent. O’Malley was on the Giants practice squad last season. Carter signed off of waivers in February, and Simonson joined in June after the Panthers refused to tender a restricted free agent offer.

There will be cuts among those list of names, but the current depth and attention to the position show that the New York Giants have bought into the trend of employing a healthy rotation of capable tight ends into their offensive game plan.

League Trend

Why not just make Engram the next Travis Kelce/Rob Gronkowski, play him every-down and be done with it?

Great question! Let’s look at a couple of case studies.

Perhaps no other team in the league in 2017 benefited more from its tight end depth than the Philadelphia Eagles. Head coach Doug Pederson (**sigh**) masterfully (**cringe**) rode Pro-Bowler Zach Ertz, Trey Burton and Brent Celek to Super Bowl glory.

The championship trio, combined for 110 receptions, 1,202 yards, and 14 touchdowns last season. Out of the team’s 3,737 regular-season passing yards, the Eagles dominant tight ends accounted for a whopping 32 percent of that total.

Ertz is undoubtedly elite in his class, but he benefited from the presence of Celek, who played in 40.8 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, and Burton, who participated in 26.5 percent, per Football Outsiders.

Philly may have lost Burton and Celek, but they replaced both players by signing Richard Rodgers and drafting top-rated South Dakota St. rookie Dallas Goedert in the second round.

The Eagles certainly convinced the Green Bay Packers with their approach.

The Pack established a trio of their own with two acquisitions in Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis to team with Lance Kendricks.

Graham, Lewis, and Kendricks all combined for a total of 99 receptions, 1,041 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2017.

We’re looking at WR1 totals from both the Packers current TE depth and Eagles’ former crew. Both out-did the league’s No. 1 and No. 2 tight ends, Gronk and Kelce, who totaled 1,084 and 1,038 yards through the air, respectively.

Giants TE Outlook

So great, we have a bunch of numbers, but what does all of this information mean?

The New York Giants aren’t too far off from the Packers and Eagles—two of NFL’s elite offenses, mind you—with how they use their tight-end trio, which is headed for its second-straight season together depending on Adams’ production in training camp.

Comparatively, Engram, Ellison, and Adams combined for 96 receptions, 1,049 yards, and eight touchdowns last season. Their total yards accounted for approximately 30 percent of the team’s 3,479 passing yards on offense.

Per Football Outsiders, Engram participated in 71.6 percent of the G-Men’s 2017 offensive snaps with Ellison getting 49.6 percent of the share, and Adams 16.0 percent.

Fans won’t have to vomit in their laps anymore from being over-fed 11-man personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) like they have the past several seasons under ex-coach Ben McAdoo.

With Engram, Ellison, and Adams, New York can return to being unpredictable on offense. Say hello to two tight end sets, full-house formations, and power-looks.

The possibilities are endless!

Additionally, Eli Manning will have the freedom to audible from run-to-pass or vice versa no matter the personnel or alignment. That’s thanks to Ellison and Engram’s ability to contribute to both facets of the game.

Maybe the Giants can implement that crazed run-pass-option everyone is talking about these days, hmm?

Next: Will Gettleman's Gamble Pay Off?

G-Men fans, don’t get hellbent on the idea of having a formidable third wide receiver. Though it would be a luxury, the team has a lot more options than it appears.