The New York Giants have a lot of tough decisions to make over the next week, and the numbers game on the roster bubble is the driving force behind most of those tough decisions.
Tight end Greg Dulcich only had one catch (on one target) in the Giants’ 31-12 win over the Jets, but it highlights one of those tough decisions for the Giants’ front office.
The tight end position might have some of the most complicated calculus of any position group on the Giants’ roster. Not because they aren’t good, but rather the Giants suddenly find themselves in the position of having too many tight ends with a good reason to keep many of them on the roster.
Theo Johnson is entrenched as the starter, and Brian Daboll is a big believer in his potential. But the mysteries begin after the second-year man out of Penn State. Daniel Bellinger is well-rounded and the most experienced tight end on the team (with respect to Daboll and the Giants’ scheme). Chris Manhertz is a great blocking tight end who brings another level of toughness to the position group. Thomas Fidone II is a high-upside rookie who made some impressive catches in Week 1, and the team might not want to expose him to the waiver wire.
And then there’s Dulcich.
Dulcich has emerged in games and in practice as a favorite of rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, and the two appear to have quickly developed a strong rapport. Dart has been decisive, confident, and efficient throughout the preseason, but he looks particularly comfortable when targeting Dulcich. In fact, the only time Dart targeted Dulcich so far and it wasn’t a completion was on a throw over the middle against the Bills. On that throw, Dart was playing too fast and appeared to jump right over his first and second reads to get the ball to Dulcich.
This week, Dart only looked Dulcich’s way once, but found him for an easy 20-yard score on a post route.
Dart said in the post-game that the touchdown came on the same play he and Dulcich had messed up against the Bills.
“That was a look that we kind of missed on. We weren’t on the same page the week before,” Dart said. “Me and Dulcich were able to kind of have those conversations this week and get on the exact same page. So, it was sweet when it happened, and it happened exactly how we kind of prepared for it to be. So that was really cool.”
When Ed released his initial 53-man roster prediction, he left Dulcich (as well as Bellinger) off of the roster in favor of Manhertz and Thomas Fidone II.
But if the Giants are focusing on developing Dart for the long term, can they afford to risk losing a player he clearly trusts?
No, Dulcich doesn’t much in the way of blocking upside. He’s a 6-foot-4, 245-pound hybrid tight end, a receiver first who mostly hopes to “lose with dignity” as a blocker. But he’s almost as fast as Johnson and Bellinger in the open field, and agile enough to run routes like a wide receiver. He also has great hands and, most importantly, the trust of the Giants’ Quarterback Of The Future.
There are few things more dangerous than a pass catching tight end who the quarterback trusts implicitly. We’ve seen Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, Brady and Gronk, Mahomes and Kelce, and Giants fans still have nightmares about Romo and Jason Witten.
Dulcich hasn’t had a “game MVP” performance like ‘Turbo’ Miller had against the Bills (speaking of whom, that’s another “good problem” that’s continuing to brew for Joe Schoen). But the preponderance of his play — and his apparent relationship with Dart — is making Dulcich’s bid for the final roster increasingly strong. It’s also possible that the Giants could look to lean into the strength at the tight end position to reinforce the depth at wide receiver.
If tight end blocking is less of a concern for the Giants’ offense this year, Dulcich could have done a lot to help his cause be a dark horse candidate to make the roster. It would be quite a story for the former third-round bust to find new life with the Giants after being a November waiver claim.
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