The New York Giants have had absolutely no stability at the tight end position for the past few seasons. Despite a prolific passing game, the Giants have not had a consistent tight end and are looking to change that this season. With options that include, Larry Donnell, Wil Tye, and rookie Jerell Adams the G-men are hoping this is finally the year they will get an elite franchise tight end. This is one of the positions the Giants have the most questions about heading into training camp.
Will Donnell or Tye grab the starting spot?
The Giants enter training camp with two players that have a legitimate chance to come out of camp with the starting tight end job.
Larry Donnell has had his ups and downs throughout his career. After a break-out season in 2014 that had Donnell catching 63 balls for 623 yards and six touchdowns, Donnell was bitten by the injury bug and his season was cut short in 2015 after just eight weeks of play. The massive 6"6, 265-pound tight end was on pace for a 64-catch season, which would have had him improving on his 2014 numbers. After his unfortunate neck injury, rookie Will Tye, out of Stony Brook, then stepped into to fill the void.
Tye played surprisingly well and put together a season that had him finishing with 42 catches for 464 yards and three touchdowns and ended with him being named to the All-Rookie team. Tye showed he has good hands and has very few issues with ball security. After a strong finish to the season by Tye, he will likely head into camp as the leading candidate to be the Giants starting tight end.
If Tye can duplicate his rookie success and Donnell can stay healthy the giants have a good chance for a one-two punch at the tight end position
Which other tight ends will make the cut?
Including Tye and Donnell the Giants have five tight ends heading into training camp. That number is likely to slim down once the regular season approaches. The question now is, who will make the 53-man roster?
According to what we have heard from the New York media most of the young tight ends, Jerell Adams, Matt LaCosse has had very strong offseason showings. LaCosse even had the chance to run some drills with the first-team during OTA's. Also, undrafted rookie, Ryan Malleck will have a chance to show what he can do.
Adams, a rookie out of South Carolina, could land a spot on the team as he has shown he can be versatile. In his final season with the Gamecocks, Adams had just 28 catches for 421 yards and three touchdowns but he has also proven he can be a solid blocking tight end.
Usually, the Giants have kept three tight ends on the roster. If that number is the same this year there will be some cuts by the time the regular season rolls around. If the Giants have another tight end they like it is completely possible they will carry four, but it still seems unlikely.
