The New York Giants might have a surplus of talent at the tight end position, but none of the options available are capable of being an every down player.
Evan Engram is a pass-catching specialist with elite speed, Rhett Ellison is a primary blocker, and Scott Simonson can manage both roles in an average way but is a favored blocker. The Giants are lacking a true dual-threat tight end that can execute on all levels.
However, they just might have found one in undrafted Kentucky star, CJ Conrad. For those who aren’t familiar with the rookie, he’s a talented player that was dropped from the NFL Combine due to a heart issue. The concern proved to be non-life-threatening, which allowed him to continue forward toward his dream to reach the NFL.
CJ Conrad has made the most of his opportunity with the New York Giants:
Prior to the NFL Draft, Conrad was thought to be a top-7 tight end and a solid prospect in the top five rounds. Unfortunately, the heart issue ruined those projections and forced him to take another route — one that ultimately landed him on the Giants.
So far, he’s been nothing but eye-popping.
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With starting TE Evan Engram sitting out due to a hamstring injury, Conrad was able to sneak in some work with the first team, catching a pass from Eli Manning.
His big moment came with the second-string group, snagging a deep ball from Alex Tanney that dropped a few jaws in the audience.
“He’s done a good job. He’s kind of caught our eye as a rookie. He’s a tough, kind of gritty guy,†Shurmur said. “I think the one thing about him, and you can say this about a lot of rookies, is he gets better with more reps. So he’ll benefit [from that]. And he’s a tough guy. He loves the reps. He benefits from it.â€
The first-team reps are extremely beneficial towards CJ’s development, and he realizes the impact of that experience.
“It means they’re seeing progress in me, which is good. I’m just trying to take every day and take advantage of all the reps I can get,†Conrad said. “If it’s ones, it’s two’s, it’s three’s, I don’t care. Whenever I’m out there I don’t worry about that, I just say hey it’s an opportunity to show a reason to keep me around.â€
One of the more exciting aspects of Conrad is his focus on the team. He’s willing to take himself out of the offense or act as a decoy to succeed. He won’t complain or throw a fit if the ball isn’t thrown his way. Having a tough guy blocking on the inline and a receiving option to go with it is something the Giants will treasure down the road.
I anticipate he will be the starting tight end by 2020.