NY Giants' Darren Waller rightfully ranked among top tight ends in the NFL
• Waller is poised to get back to a Pro Bowl level in 2023
Is it Sept. 10 yet? Once Week 1 arrives, the NY Giants and Dallas Cowboys will face off in primetime, with countless superstars ready to turn heads. The long list includes tight end Darren Waller, who arrived to East Rutherford via a trade this offseason.
No one can deny it's been a rough two seasons for Waller, as injuries have prevented him from being at his best. However, with ESPN polling coaches, scouts, players and NFL execs to rank the top TEs in the game, plenty of people have strong belief in the veteran.
While a lot of haters are doubting Waller, the first-year NY offensive weapon came in at No. 5 in this new ranking. Waller is behind Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert.
Darren Waller is without question a Top 5 tight end in the NFL
"Waller's on-field presence is undisputed. He's elite when he's out there. But missing 14 games over the past two years has hurt his ranking. Yet he still ranks third in receptions (280) and receiving yards (3,394) among tight ends since 2019. Waller can take over a game at any point. His 12 games with 100 receiving yards since 2019 trails only Kelce among tight ends. The Giants acquired him from Las Vegas in March."
- ESPN's Jeremy Fowler
If Waller can manage to stay healthy this season, then he's only going to move up in the TE rankings. We're not going to argue with Kelce at No. 1 or Kittle at No. 2. But again, if Waller can stay close to 100 percent and live up to the hype for the G-Men, then he'll easily pass Andrews and Goedert.
The Big Blue supporters truly can't wait to see what Waller can do in his first season in East Rutherford. He and Daniel Jones have already done a great job building chemistry and you already know Brian Daboll + Mike Kafka are thrilled to have him in town too.
Don't be surprised to see Waller flirt with 1,000 yards this campaign. If he can get back to his Pro Bowl form, then the NY offense will reach another level out there in '23.
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