Reasons to love the NY Giants’ tight end situation ahead of 2020

TE 3: Kaden Smith

After he was waived by the San Francisco 49ers following Week 2 of the 2019 season, the Giants claimed Kaden Smith. Considering the success he experienced last season, it will be interesting to see how Joe Judge and his new coaching staff view Smith’s ability and how that influences how he is used in the offense moving forward.

Now playing alongside fellow Stanford alumni Toilolo, Smith is coming off a surprisingly impressive 2019 campaign with the Giants, during which he caught 31 passes for 268 yards while scoring three touchdowns in only nine games.  Additionally, like Levine Toilolo, former sixth-round, Smith has also proven his ability to catch the football.

These players couldn’t hope to sniff a starting gig behind the likes of TE George Kittle, but under the offensive game plan of Jason Garrett, they may be able to compete for a starting job alongside Evan Engram. Both of them have great catch ability and can be utilized as offensive weapons, and while Engram’s blocking isn’t considered top-tier, Smith is a good blocker.

Although his success during his rookie season is only a small sample size of what he can actually do in a full season, if his impressive performance against the Redskins in Week 16 is any indication (six-receptions, including an overtime winning TD pass – his second of that particular game – in the NY Giants’ OT win), he may surprise fans this season despite being the third TE on their depth chart.

Behind him on the depth chart is also Eric Tomlinson, Garrett Dickerson, and CJ Conrad who are all reserves who can prove to be effective blockers. Overall, the Giants have an extended receiving corps with their current set of tight ends; whose ability to stretch the field could develop into something special.

And if they are able to open up the passing and running games with their blocking, the NY Giants offense will have a lot of potential with Jason Garrett drawing up the schemes.