2025 Giants Tight Ends | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

2025 Giants Tight Ends | Giants Huddle | New York Giants

welcome to another edition of the Giants podcast brought to you by Citizens the official bank of the Giants thanks for being with us my name is John Schmelk we continue our position series talking to each group of players at each position on the Giants roster we’re still getting through the offense today we’re going to talk to the tight ends and now we’re joined by Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger belly how are you man
good man good
so do you feel like a veteran now like you feel I feel like you just showed up here i’m sure you feel like in some ways you just showed up here too but then I look down I’m like “Wow he’s sending towards the end of his working contract here this is crazy
um it’s insane to think about but uh it definitely like in the moment it feels long but now you look back on it it’s like man it went by like that it was quick
where do you think you’ve grown the most as a player since you’ve gotten here
um just just being a vet and kind of learning the the nuances of not just the New York Giants but of the NFL and of the league and kind of learning how things process and how other guys process things and uh really just kind of taking more more experiences and turning into like a vet
how do you think your game has expanded obviously you came from a program in college where it was a lot of running a lot of passing how do you think your game has expanded in terms of how you’re being used and utilized
um yeah I mean a lot a lot of versatility in terms of you know the fullback position and the tight end position um whether it’s pass game run game really kind of doing it all and uh being able to manage it all unlike in college when it was just the run game so um you know it’s definitely been a versatility aspect of it
you mentioned the fullback stuff i really feel like you’ve taken to that did you enjoy lining up in the back field and and and doing some of that i mean listen I love playing football so it’s if it’s if it’s fullback if it’s tight end if it’s receiver if it’s if it’s special teams whatever it is I just like playing football and I I’m enjoying being out there playing the game of football
is it a little bit of a different mentality when you’re a fullback as opposed to tight end
uh definitely definitely a little more hard nose uh tighten up your chin strap a little bit more um but it’s fun it’s a lot of fun
and the thing I like and we saw Brian Dable use you i think he they ran a play action pass last year and you got one-on-one on linebacker you ran like a deep out or a flag and you call like a 20 yard pass you can get set up some nice mismatches in the pass game from that fullback spot right
oh yeah yeah once we get this run game going it’s it’s it’s opening up the play action it’s opening up the pass game so you know having a having a tight end at fullback opens up a lot of doors obviously in the spring there’s not a lot of contact you’re not doing a lot of run game stuff but are you excited from what about what this run game can look like given the additions of Cam Scaboo you have your whole offensive line group back you got you guys at tight end what could this run game do pairing with play action if everything goes the way it’s supposed to
uh yeah super excited about the run game you know I think the coaches are doing a great job putting us in the best position possible um I think we have vets on the O line i think we you know have some young guys coming in as in the back field um but I think they’re ready you know I think they’re ready to step up and I think we’re going to be a physical upfront team
can they fit all you guys in the tight end room i feel like there’s a lot of you
yeah i mean uh you know there’s a lot of us in there but we’re all in there and we’re all we’re all working pretty good
i think it’s a fun group like you have so many guys like you if you lined your guys up and like against the wall right and we’re all looking at you you wouldn’t think all of you play the same position necessarily just because you’re so different you know shapes and styles and skill sets
yeah right i mean we’re all we’re all a little different in our own way um but I think that that helps our team and the fact that we know what we’re good at and we can look at other guys and see what they’re good at and take take from our from their game and put into our game
tell me about Thomas Fedoni the rookie what have you what kind of advice have you given them trying to get used to things and and what have you seen from him on the field so far
uh yeah young guy from Nebraska um super athletic um definitely definitely gets in his playbook a lot and knows what he’s doing so you know he’s he’s a rookie and he’s learning um but he’s an uber athletic guy that that wants to wants to get out there and help our team so that’s the most exciting part of he’s a good guy dude he’s a good guy
yeah two things I ask you about with him one he came from a very pro scheme at Nebraska right he was a Matt Rule a lot of NFL concepts have you seen him pick things up a little bit quicker because of that
oh yeah yeah certain concepts we put in uh he’s already done before at Nebraska so he kind of knows or has a good idea of what we’re looking for when we’re trying to do it
all right the second thing I want to ask you about is his length he’s got 34 inch arms how does that help as a tight end when you’re long trying to find those areas in the middle of the field where it can be very congested
uh it’s huge i mean it’s nice um obviously in in pass pro and run game cuz you know you get those length lengthy DNS that you need um but in the pass game it’s it’s huge because you know that extra inch uh when you’re running an inc or a corner you know it’s it’s that much more so having those long arms helps a lot
finally what goals have you set out for yourself this year
uh just win help the team win any any way anyh how uh you know anything any position they put me in let’s just help the team win and let’s get some more wins
that way good stuff man thank you all right brother yes sir
appreciate it and now we’re joined by veteran Giants tight end Chris Manners chris what’s going on man
how are you
do you feel like like a dad in there sometimes with like a bunch of little kids and you’re trying to like get him to do the right stuff all the time
i see feel like the season vet in the room for sure so I I think it’s a fun room though like you look at all the guys in there and I was joking with with with Belly earlier like if you line all you guys up like against the wall like a lineup right you wouldn’t think that necessarily all you guys play the same position because a lot of you are built a little bit differently and and you all have different skill sets is that fun having that type of diverse of a group in in the room together
it’s definitely fun i think it’s just a testament to the versatility that we have in the room as a whole um obviously a lot of different skill sets across the board with the people that we have in there um so it’s fun fun group to be a part of
what can this group become right you you guys got Theo Johnson he’s had all the physical building world the rookie Thomas Fedoni really long athletic guy as these guys begin to learn Chris what do you see as the upside for for some of the young guys in the room
you know I feel like the upside is extremely high um especially guys like Theo um and and the other younger guys um boatload of potential um has the size the athleticism the quickness could run routes could get open could block at the point of attack all those things uh highly critical for the tight end position as you could imagine but um it’s pretty exciting to you know um kind of be a part of that group and and kind of help them out and add value in ways that I can as well
let’s talk about you you obviously come in here you’re a guy that they rely heavily in in the blocking part of the game right when you look back at your last year how do you think you played and how would you evaluate your own season uh
I think I played well you know um half the battle at this point in my career is um remaining and staying dependable and healthy um to to to play a full uh season
doesn’t matter where you are in your career by the way i think that’s a challenge for everybody to be honest with you
right um and at this point I I know what my role is i know why I’m here i’m here to uh bring a a physical presence in the run game and and kind of emphasize that brand of football that Giants football is all about um being tough being dependable and um making the plays that come to you as well so um it’s definitely uh something to look forward to and I’m pretty excited about it
what can you learn about a tight end group in spring practice when you can’t really be physical yet there’s no pads you can’t really block what can you learn about your group in a setting like that
um I think more importantly um at that point in the year we’re we’re trying to install the playbook learn a new system um a lot of these guys will get tested on their their cognitive capacity how quickly they could process information how they could retain information um and that’s by design you know um Coach Dable and the coaching staff does a good job of you know putting us in the fire a little bit and and testing us um so that uh once the real bullets start flying it’s a little bit more smoother and easier and look tight end’s one of the toughest positions to learn especially for young players because you have to learn everything right you’re not just learning the pass game you got to learn protections you got to learn run block you got to learn everything how have the young guys kind of taken to it you know even Theo heading from year one to year two uh figuring out some of the details necessary to be successful at the position
uh he’s definitely took took ownership of it um and and all of us do a collective job um as a group of just helping each other out and and and and figuring things out along the way but um a lot of those things just comes with reps comes with times comes with you know a boatload of preparation a lot of things that you know people don’t see when you’re in this building it’s it’s really what you do when you’re outside of this building and and and really trying to catch up and and and learn as quickly as you can
what are the toughest things for a young tight end to pick up and figure out going from college to the NFL what what takes the longest to click um just speaking from my experience I I think the the the mental part is a lot as well um processing information quickly reading the defense making adjustment route adjustments on the fly things like that um and once you really get a grasp of that with reps obviously then it just slows down for you now you’re playing without thinking now you’re just playing fast and um you know a lot of times when these guys are playing fast and and not thinking that’s when they play their best so um just trying to get to that point as fast as we can as possible is is definitely paramount
and then what kind of goals have you set out for yourself this year um my biggest goal um is to remain a defend dependable asset in this run game um and obviously make uh the plays in the past game that come to me but um just remaining dependable um being a great teammate um being a physical presence in the run game and and and being somebody that my teammates and coaches could rely on me to go out there and execute and play
finally where do you think this run game hit its stride the best last year was it zone scheme was it power was it duo where do you think this where do you think the run game was it at its best i think um honestly with the the running backs that we have now um we have a great deal of versatility as far as whether it’s outside zone whether it’s gap schemes we have the personnel that fits each and every one of those things and obviously the O line and tight ends have to do a great job in making that possible and clearing up range lanes for the running back but um it’s a mixed bag with this group and that’s kind of the the most exciting thing
you know throughout training camp we’ll we’ll kind of see what we’re really good at once the pads start coming on obviously but it’s pretty exciting at this point
chris good stuff man appreciate your time dude thank you
Chris Manz
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we’re joined by Giants rookie tight end Thomas Fidoni thomas what’s going on man how are you
good how are you doing man
i’m doing great so I had a chance to talk to um Thomas Satisfield your
Oh yeah your tight end coachfield yeah marcus yeah marcus Addisfield sorry at um at Nebraska and you know he he basically said to me when you got here that you should be really comfortable in everything that we do because of the system that coach Rule had in Nebraska very pro style you had to run block under center and all the stuff have you found Have you found that the transition maybe has been a little bit easier for you because of what you were asked to do in college
yeah absolutely um I say this all the time I think but yeah what coach R did with Nebraska um the offense we ran even just how like the verbiage um that we use within the offense for the play calls and stuff like that um definitely has made the transition a lot easier for sure
what has it been like trying to learn this offense everyone i mean I Jameus Winston here he’s been in the league for 10 years and he said to me “Man this offense is complicated what is it like for a rookie?”
No it definitely is i mean there’s definitely a lot of details um in each and every play um sometimes you know there’s multip multiple plays within one play um but it it it definitely is a tough offense to learn um but um it hasn’t been you know anything that I haven’t done before kind of like we touched on a little bit Nebraska um so it’s it’s been good for sure now obviously you’re not doing a ton of the run game yet because there’s no pads and it’s mostly a passing camp so how has it been trying to learn the route concepts and you know some of the optionality that you guys are given as a tight end in this offense depending on what the defense is showing you you can then adjust your route and do stuff like that
yeah see that that’s that that’s was something that’s kind of a learning curve for me it’s just kind of having more free freedom within your routes um uh being able to just kind of you know versus different looks the defense is giving you you know you don’t have to be square cut on each and every one of your routes that’s been something that’s changed from college to here is just having some more freedom which I definitely like um but just getting used to that um you know instead of you know running it the way it’s supposed to be ran or says to be ran you know you can have some freedom so that’s been a big change but it’s a good change
you had to deal with two very serious injuries backto-back years in college how did you kind of fight through that mentally get back on the field and it seems like you’ve gotten your athleticism back you you can tell me better than me i don’t know if your GPS changed or whatever but how did you kind of get through that and kind of get back to where all right now you’re in the NFL and you’re rocking and rolling
yeah no definitely um you know I’ I’ve always been someone with a very strong mindset and um I wasn’t going to let anything you know take me off course of what I you know had planned for myself um but no I I definitely you know I don’t I don’t think I ever lost my athleticism i you know an injury isn’t going to make me lose it um you know
I Same knee twice right
yeah same knee twice for you know worked extremely hard to come back um you know I was faster than I was i hit 21 21 something miles per hour in college um multiple times recently you know before the combine when I was training and stuff like that um uh you know and obviously my agility you know I was what top two or three i was really top three really in everything at the combine
um you know some some of things I was explo I mean I showed my explosiveness you know in like you know broad jump 106 stuff like that just um being able to showcase that was huge for me to show you know teams that you know one um it it shows your mentality when you come back for something like that and and then also like your athleticism um and how you come back so being able to do that was good
absolutely when you think about yourself as a receiver what do you think of as your strength do you think of yourself as more of a seam runner do you think yourself as more as like the agile option route type of guy where you can win with your quickness what would you think your strength is in terms of your receiving ability
yeah no I’m definitely um I like to do a little bit of everything um I take pride in being able to do everything but I’m definitely I think you know better in in deeper you know deeper situations cross you know crossing routes seams uh stuff like that but I I am I am quick and agile i’m tall and long though so sometimes it doesn’t look like that on film um but uh no I’d probably you know give me open downfield winning versus man is definitely something that I’d say is one of my strengths
you mentioned your long arms how does that help you as a tight end with those 34in arms not only in the passing game you know creating windows in between safeties and linebackers and stuff but also then in the running game when you have to using the block
yeah it’s you know it’s definitely uh an advantage you know and especially like you know in pass setting and stuff like that being able to you know have length on DNS and stuff like that cuz they’re usually typically pretty lengthy uh people as well so definitely having long have long arms um is big in the run game um being able to create that that separation for the running back and stuff like that and for me into the D end um but yeah it’s it’s really good for sure all right tell tell Giant fans we haven’t had a chance to see it yet again there’s no pads in the spring what do you bring as a blocker in the run game
physicality um I’m extremely physical in the run game um you know I’m definitely a willing blocker i like to put my put my head head in there um and hit um you know we we did a lot of as we touched on uh blocking and you know periods where we worked on a lot of stuff like that in Nebraska so just um I’m definitely a willing blocker at tight end you’d be surprised there’s you know all across you know college and stuff like that you you you meet people who don’t like to block so
some some of them are even asked to block
yeah some It’s a new football a new day age football you got you got wise you got Fs you got you know kind of fullbacks who play a little bit everything
um so I’ve just been someone who’s tried to be a be able to do it all
how the veterans been in the room trying to kind of move you along and and kind of get you you have it’s kind of a weird room you got a lot of guys you have Manhurz who’s kind of like the vet vet then you have other younger vets and you have you know another guys a couple you know Theo Johnson’s in the second year how does that group kind of interact with each other and kind of come together to help everybody get better
yeah I think we got a great room bunch of really good dudes um kindly touched on uh you know Chris being in the league for like 10 plus years um being able to learn from him and just kind of take little tidbits and pieces from him watching him how he practices the way he approaches things and then same thing with like Theo and and and D and Belly um you know Theo took on the kind of touch on he’s like a young vet you know he took on a big role last year um did really well um and then Belly obviously he’s he’s he had a big season you know when he was when he was put in that position um and then being able to learn from you know I I feel like Belly has been really helpful to me um being able to learn from him um things that you know he kind of has shown me and you know being able to talk through with him on some things um but he just he he’s so good at everything and he’s really smooth um and uh no I like to watch him and kind of just learn from him for sure
thomas this is great man
can’t wait to see on the field in the summer when the Pats come on man
yes sir me too
thank you very much
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all right and now we’re joined by Giants tight end Theo Johnson theo what’s up man
what’s going on all right so difference between Theo Johnson talking to you today than when I spoke to you I think probably around almost a year ago today
how have you changed
huge huge difference um I know what it’s like to be a professional football player now um I was learning as I went week by week um and just the knowledge I’ve gained it’s It’s crazy to look at some of the rookies now and seeing how they might think they have things figured out or they know what to expect when it’s like man you got no clue what’s coming um
you kind of laugh at them a little bit behind like like not to their face but do they
I don’t laugh at them but it’s just it’s kind of cool to see like like just having been in that situation and now being where I am now um I’ve learned a ton um just about like you know what what I need to do outside the building how I need to take care of my body what my routine needs to look like and obviously I’m still learning it’s you know it’s only my second year but um just the growth I’ve had from this year last year is tremendous
all right I I don’t want to miss out on this question i ask you right off the top you and I Bu Carter have talked about unfinished business from practice at Penn State i talked to Dion Barnes last week his Abdul’s defensive line coach and he said there was a lot of violence at Penn State practice so can you tell us what those matchups were like between you and Abdul you guys worked against each other at Penn State yeah it’s it’s just two highlevel competitors um going in every day you know we both took practice very seriously
um and we were both kind of alpha dogs on opposite sides of the ball so um you know things things can get tense can can get heated but at the end of the day like you know we’re both we’re both competitors we both respect each other as competitors um but like we pushed each other and and I told him this you know I went to his last game um when they played Notre Dame in Miami i told him man like you made me a better player playing against playing against you every day in practice um and you know I’d hope that if you asked him that question he’d probably say the same thing about me so um you know we definitely we definitely got it we’ve gotten into it for sure but um I got a ton of respect for him
and he wasn’t even an edge player then he was playing off ball linebacker at that point
yeah there’s there’s a lot of times where and the coaches knew it at Penn State too like so they’d like call us out like in practice and we do like one-on- ones in front of the whole team and stuff like um so like the coaches were kind of in on it too like they because they knew like those these are our top guys you know on the opposite side of the ball all right do you feel if you just look at the numbers right you’re they started going up and up and up towards right before you got hurt
did you feel that too just in terms of your improvement and your comfort level did you feel like you were starting to peak right before the injury happened
yeah I felt I felt it um I felt it coming on you know the more comfortable I got um and kind of like I was saying earlier like just feeling what it’s like to be in my groove like now having an idea like “All right I have this many games under my belt this is what it’s got to look like.” Um and then just as like it’s like “All right like man this can like I can really finish on a super high note this year.” uh the injury happened which was you know super discouraging but at the same time like encouraging at the same time because it’s like all right now I know I’m going to have a full off seasonason to kind of prepare and and you know figure things out um so I I definitely felt like I was catching on at the right time um and unfortunately the injury kind of put a hold on that what’s the next step in your game for you
yeah I think the big thing for me this year is um I want to play 17 games like that’s that is number one priority i’ve been taking my recovery and my health and you know what I’m putting in my body and everything more serious than I ever have um so I think that is the biggest goal for me is is prioritizing my health and wellness and making sure that um I’m available and consistent throughout 17 weeks
in terms of receiving and being a receiver where do you think your strength lies do you still think of yourself as more of a seam runner do you see yourself as more of like an option guy all right I’m running i can go inside or out and me and the quarterback are on the same page where do you see your strength as a receiver flashing the most in the way this offense is structured and put together
yeah so we’ve been doing we’ve been getting a little bit of uh different things um and you know OTA is the time to try different things out and and we got a new quarterback who has different skill sets and stuff like that so uh we’ve been experimenting and I think that you know there’s a good opportunity for me to uh do a lot more in the option game uh this year um different things on third downs um all stuff like as a tight end you get super excited about like just um the different concepts and and things that um you know really complement my my skill set and and my play style um so I think it’s going to be a good mixture of you know still running teams and stuff but also working in some of the more you know intermediate um option type routes as well
and finally I know blocking can get very technical what are some of the technique things in terms of the blocking game that that you think you need to fine-tune if you fine-tune those you can become an elite helper in terms of blocking in the run game
yeah I think I think the biggest thing when I look at the tape from last year um is just like not losing the block at the end um I’ll I’ll do a good job getting initially engaged um and then you know right as the runner’s coming and he’s choosing a side I’ll I’ll lose him towards the end of the block um so I think the big thing for me is just finishing those plays finishing the blocks
is that better hand placement so so you can stay latched to the guy or
Yeah it’s it’s really bringing your hips okay um
so if you the closer you get your hips to their hips when he tries to disengage or he tries to pull you you’re going to be able to stay intact control them right
yeah if your hips are back and you’re leaning forward then if someone pulls you you’re you’re just going to take your momentum use it against you so um that’s something I’ve worked a ton on that also comes with a lot of core strength so if you got a stronger core then um like that’s you’re not going to get thrown as much i’ve been doing Pilates twice a week trying to trying to get the core stronger so I think we’re going to see improvement in that area
you certainly got a lot of good players to work against when we get to the summer and the pads come on so they’ll be doing Brian Burns Kavon there’ll be no shortage of guys to work on
no question Theo good stuff man appreciate the time dude appreciate it
thank you
and now we’re joined by Giants tight end Greg Dolich greg what’s going on man how are you
i’m great yeah
so you arrived late last year yeah
how helpful was it that you kind of got a taste of the offense and everything like that at least just for a couple months into last year so when you kind of hit the ground running when you got here for season
yeah it was huge like you said to kind of get a little bit of a head start um a taste of how um the offense has run and getting to meet everyone obviously was huge um knowing the teammates and the coaches so that they knew me how I work how I kind of operate and I kind of had the same you know experience with them in those you know five or six weeks that I was here at the end of the year so it was you know definitely helpful
did you think Russ would just follow you here
oh my gosh I I heard the news i was I was so ecstatic like it was it was perfect i mean played with him in Denver obviously um got a great connection and you know Russ on top of just being a phenomenal you know player just a great teammate and you know it’s it’s going to be an exciting year for sure
what is it about him is all the players here have been glowing about him since he got here i talked to Davis Webb who obviously was his quarterback’s coach in Denver he said awesome guy to work with what is it about him that just makes it work with everyone
yeah I just everything i mean he’s got a presence to him and I think um you know one word that kind of sticks out I don’t know if it’s the perfect word but loyalty like he’s a loyal dude like you’re his teammate like I mean he’s he’s played a lot he knows a lot about football and you know whatever else and all of you know his knowledge and anything that he has is totally accessible to you like when you’re his teammate he’s you know goes out of his way to you know provide for his teammates and make sure everyone’s good and to you know be a team first guy which is huge and you know can’t ask for anything else you know
for Giant fans that maybe haven’t seen you play a ton what do you bring to this offense as a receiver at tight end
yeah um obviously like you said receiving is kind of my strong suit but I like to you know work to be a complete tight end i think our tight end room you know we’ve got a ton of great pieces a lot of athletes and a lot of guys that can move people in the run game so I’m excited about you know how they’ll move us around and you know get the most out of us cuz all of us are in there to contribute help this team win
i remember watching you coming out and I thought you stretched the field down the seam vertically as as a seam runner really well and we all know that Russ likes to push the ball down the field is that a is that a good match for you guys together
yeah absolutely and I mean you know when we played in Denver that was kind of uh the connection we had and so trying to continue to foster that and uh build it here in this offense and uh you know however the the coaches are going to allow us to do it uh we’ll get after it
well we can’t wait to see it great good stuff man appreciate the time dude thank you very much
maybe the most interesting position group on this roster a lot of young guys they have not met their potential yet guys with a little bit of a different skill set physical builds they can all do a little bit different things it was a fun group to talk to and I think it’s the group that really has one of the higher ceilings on the roster if these guys can put it together and figure it out many of them still on their rookie contracts that’s all the time we have for this episode of the Giants podcast brought to you by Citizens the official bank of the Giants we’ll see you next time

On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, John Schmeelk is joined by Giants tight ends, Daniel Bellinger, Chris Manhertz, Thomas Fidone, Theo Johnson, and Greg Dulcich. They discuss the various skill sets in their room, run blocking for the running backs, and their goals are for the 2025 season. Presented by Citizens.

00:00 – Daniel Bellinger
04:23 – Chris Manhertz
10:03 – Thomas Fidone
16:50 – Theo Johnson
23:00 – Greg Dulcich

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