New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson has everything required to excel at the position. The 25-year-old has the size, strength, athleticism, and versatility to do everything that's asked of him, yet two-plus years in, he's as invisible as he's ever been.
It begs the question: what the heck is going on with him?
Big Blue selected the tight end out of Penn State with the fourth-round (107th pick) of the 2024 Draft. The pick made a lot of sense. There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Darren Waller and what might happen to him after a disappointing 2023 season, where it was obvious his heart was no longer in it -- he retired two months later.
The former Nittany Lion had an up-and-down rookie season, but flashed potential late in the season. He followed that up with a mini-breakout in Year 2 last year, and when the G-Men signed Isaiah Likely to a three-year, $40 million deal this offseason, the hope was that Johnson would step up to the challenge of not becoming irrelevant and to utilize both religiously and overwhelm defenses with size and strength.
Likely's taken full advantage, while Johnson has all but disappeared. After playing 32 offensive snaps in Week 1, the third-year TE only saw 16 in Week 2. He has a whopping one reception on five targets for nine yards.
Giants are starting to lose trust in Theo Johnson
A drop in playing time week-over-week this early in the season might not seem like a big deal, but Johnson’s issues didn’t exactly start against the Rams.
Drops have followed him throughout his career, including multiple miscues during John Harbaugh’s first training camp in NY. And Harbaugh has already shown how quickly mistakes can cost players opportunities. Just ask Tyrone Tracy Jr.
That was particularly frustrating coming off a 2025 season where it looked like Johnson might finally be putting things together. Instead, the drops followed him into the summer, and now the opportunities are drying up.
Going from 32 offensive snaps to 16 in one week is significant, especially for a player who was supposed to remain a meaningful part of the offense even after Likely arrived. Johnson has instead watched the former Raven establish himself as the offense's de facto top option (as Malik Nabers continues to get up to speed from last year's ACL tear).
The Giants knew what they were getting when they made Likely their priority FA signing. After all, Harbaugh spent four years with the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder in Baltimore, and through two games, he’s already become the team's most reliable weapon. Johnson needed to give the coaching staff reasons to keep both tight ends heavily involved, and one catch for nine yards isn’t going to cut it.
Giants must think about what the future holds for Theo Johnson
Johnson isn’t exactly in the best spot to disappear. It’s not like the Giants don’t have other options at tight end already on the roster.
Likely is obviously the biggest obstacle standing between Johnson and a larger role. New York isn't paying him $13 million a year for fun. That leaves Johnson fighting for whatever is left behind him, and there’s another young tight end on the roster who could eventually make that competition even more interesting.
Thomas Fidone II is only 24 and brings plenty of his own physical upside at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds. Harbs thought enough of him to carry four tight ends on the initial 53-man roster rather than risk losing him to waivers -- they clearly wanted to keep around.
Before Fidone crashes any party, he’ll need to get on the field himself. Through two games, he has played exactly zero snaps, sitting out as a healthy scratch in both.
Johnson isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and after putting together the best season of his career in 2025, he’s earned more than two games to figure things out. That said, the growing concern is what happens if this trend continues and the Giants eventually decide they no longer need him as part of the game plan altogether.
Johnson still has plenty of time to turn things around, but having his offensive snaps cut in half from one week to the next isn’t exactly encouraging. If that trend continues, it won’t be long before the Giants have to start wondering where he fits into the offense moving forward.
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