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

With the possibility of having two flex tight ends lining up on both sides of QB Daniel Jones, NY Giants fans should be optimistic about the potential offensive production they could get from their young receiving ends.

Despite losing Rhett Ellison to early retirement after he suffered a season-ending concussion in Week 10 this past season, the NY Giants have a lot to be excited about when it comes to their dynamic tight end unit, which has become laden with multi-purpose skill players this offseason.

With the recent hiring’s of Joe Judge as head coach, Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator, and Freddie Kitchens as tight ends coach, the possibilities for this young offense are only as limited as the imaginations of these new coaches.

“A tight end heavy offense,” as reported by ESPN staff writer, Jordan Raanan, could provide sufficient blocking for the Giants star running back, Saquon Barkley, and more play action pass options for their wide receivers. Conversely, their TEs would serve a dual purpose (for blocking and receiving) that could dramatically raise everyone’s game on the offensive side of the football.

By utilizing the height and agility of Evan Engram, Levine Toilolo, and Kaden Smith specifically, in conjunction with their improving O-line, which (granted) is still a work-in-progress, the NY Giants could accelerate the development and execution of strong game plans centered around a running game that benefits from TEs who can block, catch, and score.

And with the Dallas Cowboys’ former Head Coach drawing up the offensive schemes this season, that is exactly what we should expect. Both Garrett and Judge have experience designing offenses that flourished by exploiting the catching and blocking prowess of two future Hall of Fame TEs, Rob Gronkowski and Jason Witten, respectively.

And with Freddie Kitchens coming off a forgettable two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns, he will be looking to redeem his coaching style. Interestingly for the NY Giants, he will also reunite with Garrett, who he worked under as the TE coach for the Cowboys in 2006.

There is a lot of similarity between the offensive philosophies of these three coaches, and they all place a high emphasis on utilizing tight ends, which is something that the Giants haven’t done much of in recent years.

However, despite their last three losing seasons, a new coaching staff is not the only thing Giants fans have reason to be excited about, as having Evan Engram, Levine Toilolo, and Kaden Smith topping their TE depth chart heading into the 2020 season.

TE 1: Evan Engram

Drafted in 2017, this former first-round pick has not played a full season for Big Blue since his rookie year. For Evan Engram, this will be his fourth season as a member of the NY Giants and if he can just stay healthy, perhaps it will also be his breakout year.

There’s a lot going in his favor this season, considering incoming NY Giants offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, has always gotten production from his TEs. Granted he’s had a Hall of Famer in Jason Witten as a centerpiece of his offense during most of his tenure as the Cowboys Head Coach.

Still, Garrett’s game plans and offensive schemes should not be hampered by the fact that it’s now Engram executing the plays. There is no reason not to feed him the ball in the middle of the field, in the seam, and in the short slot areas.

By all indications, this coaching staff will give him every opportunity. And why not? In the three seasons fans have watched Engram perform, the only thing they might think he can’t do on the field is stay there.

When healthy though, his skill-set is formidable in one-on-one matchups, and if he’s used vertically downfield this season, Engram could fulfill the potential that led to his 23rd overall selection by the previous front office when they drafted him.

And in what will be a pivotal year for the young tight end (one that will likely determine if management picks up his fifth-year option to keep him under team control through 2021 or let him go), he’s sorely due for a preeminent season.

Now with a more experienced Daniel Jones starting under center for the Giants this year, 2020 may just be the year to step up. It’s no secret that a healthy Evan Engram is an offensive star, and essentially a fourth receiver for Jones to develop a connection with over the course of a full season.

Before his 2019 season was cut short by a sprained foot that finally landed him on the IR after dealing with ongoing knee and hamstring injuries, Engram was showing glimpses of his skill, posting 44 receptions for 467 yards and 3 TDs in eight games.

Compared to his career-high 64 receptions for 722 yards and 6 TDs from his rookie season, Engram’s 2019 performance warranted belief that he was on pace to set new career highs for at least two of those stats had he remained on the field.

By staying healthy, fans around the league will see what Giants fans have glimpsed since 2017.

TE 2: Levine Toilolo

Following the signing of Levine Toilolo, the NY Giants now have six tight ends on their roster and no reason to spend draft capital to augment this position.Expected to be utilized primarily as a blocker and, more specifically as Rhett Ellison’s replacement, Toilolo finds himself in a unique position to shock everyone with his versatility to also catch and run the football.

In a video chat with John Schmeelk on the Giants YouTube channel, hesitated, “I’m bringing more to the table than people expect.” As a tight end, you can do so many different things on the field and attack the defense in different ways by filling the role of a receiver, blocker, and someone who can spread the offense. Therefore, this is a new opportunity for the 28-year-old with a new offensive coaching staff that includes Garrett and Kitchens.

Aside from Toilolo’s blocking proficiency, his athleticism catching footballs and running routes downfield is something fierce and widely underappreciated. Better yet, he has a reputation of staying healthy, only missing four games in seven seasons (five with the Falcons, one with the Lions and three games with the 49ers).

However, in the likelihood he is used exclusively as a blocker (which should be expected), his dual capability to catch and run with the football could come in useful if that is the direction the offense chooses to go.

The exciting part is that either scenario works for this Giants team. We know how much Jason Garrett loves to run the football (potentially utilizing Levine’s blocking ability), as seen by his use of RB Ezekiel Elliot’s 300+ rushing attempts in each of the last four seasons* (2017 being the exception, as Elliot’s season was cut short due to a conduct-policy suspension that cost him 6 games. He still wound up with 242 attempts).

We’ve also seen Garrett use his tight ends as offensive weapons, thus allowing Levine the opportunity to contribute by catching the ball. Therefore, how he fits alongside a playmaker in Engram and someone who excelled as a receiving threat last year in Kaden Smith (who Toilolo knows from his time in San Francisco) – is still to be explored.

While it’s unlikely he will be used often as an offensive weapon with Engram and Smith on the team, the option to use him in such a capacity on top of utilizing his blocking ability is always there, and if used correctly, could be a valuable weapon for this Giants offense.

After all, having two tight ends lined up on the field worked out last season for division rivals, Philadelphia Eagles, with Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz protecting the run game, opening up the passing game, and even thriving as offensive targets.

Admittedly, the Cowboys haven’t run a lot of dual TE’s in recent years under Jason Garrett, having the benefit of a bonafide Hall of Famer in TE Jason Witten, and a well-balanced run game and receiving corps, but that doesn’t mean the Giants wouldn’t benefit from the plan.

Overall, Toilolo appears ready to learn from his teammates and incorporate parts of his own game in this new and improved TE unit. He is a physical presence and isn’t afraid to be physical and do a lot of the dirty work to support his teammates while playing whistle-to-whistle.
And better yet, he’s excited to call NYC his home. In 2020, he is one to watch.

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.