There’s nothing worse than a quiet rookie. Especially when you’re a seventh-rounder buried in a crowded tight end room that’s already fighting for scraps behind Theo Johnson and Daniel Bellinger. But Thomas Fidone II didn’t come to East Rutherford to stay quiet.
New York Giants training camp is barely underway, and Fidone made the kind of play that deserves a second look. The kind that stops a rep mid-snap and leaves teammates yelling from the sideline. Not because it was some perfectly schemed-up play. This wasn’t even a full-speed rep with linemen or anything in front. Just a rookie quarterback, a rookie tight end, and a highlight-reel catch.
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Fidone was running across the middle when Jaxson Dart uncorked a ball that looked just out of reach. Except it wasn’t. Fidone went up, stuck out one hand, and pulled it down clean — full extension, mid-air. That’s the kind of moment you don’t need to explain. You just hear the “oooh” from the onlookers and know exactly what happened:
What a grab from Thomas Fidone🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/BPtozWTegI
— Anthony Rivardo (@Anthony_Rivardo) July 24, 2025
It's nowhere near the Odell Beckham Jr. one-hander, but putting some highlight-reel reps on tape is never a bad thing for a guy on the bubble.
Thomas Fidone's road to the roster just got a bit clearer
It’s easy to overreact to one catch in camp. But it’s just as easy to recognize when a player forces the conversation to shift — and Fidone might’ve just done that. For a tight end room that already feels overloaded with guys like Bellinger, Chris Manhertz, Greg Dulcich, and an emerging TE1 in Johnson, there wasn’t exactly an obvious lane for a seventh-round rookie to make his presence felt.
Now there is.
Fidone has always had the athletic profile. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, and while injuries stalled his development at Nebraska, the talent never disappeared. That catch from Dart spoke for itself. Everything about it — the timing, the body control, the hands — looked like a guy who wasn’t worried about easing into camp or playing conservative.
He was one of several Giants tight ends who attended Tight End University this offseason, and it’s already starting to feel like that time around pros who’ve done it at the highest level rubbed off. Whatever he picked up in Nashville seems to be clicking at just the right time.
The reality is, Fidone doesn’t have to beat out everyone in the room to stick. He just has to keep stacking plays like this. Whether that means earning a spot as a third tight end, becoming a red zone specialist, or getting stashed on the practice squad until a spot opens up, the path is there.
It won’t be handed to him. Nothing is when you’re pick No. 219. But you make enough of those plays, and eventually someone has to make room for you. One catch might not win a job — but it's one catch closer to securing one.