The New York Giants went into this offseason with a clear mission: upgrade the playmakers around quarterback Daniel Jones. New York was successful. They added two new primary wide receivers, Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney. They also added quality depth at the receiver position with John Ross III. But another underrated move that the Giants made was adding a dependable, consistent tight end to the roster in Kyle Rudolph.
What Kyle Rudolph will bring to the Giants
Kyle Rudolph might not be the flashiest offseason move that the Giants made this offseason, but he is still one of the best. No, he was not the top receiver on the free-agent market (Kenny Golladay) or the most explosive receiver in the NFL Draft (Kadarius Toney), though the Giants added both of those playmakers to their roster, too.
Rather, Kyle Rudolph was the most dependable tight end on the free-agent market. Dependability is something this Giants’ offense desperately needed. In 2020, the Giants did not have a reliable or consistent group of playmakers around Daniel Jones. The Giants went all-in on Danny Dimes this offseason, supplying him with as much talent as possible to share the ball with in his third year.
While the Giants added a slew of explosive playmakers to the offense, they also made the wise move of adding a less explosive but more dependable option in Kyle Rudolph. With a career catch rate of 68.1%, the ten-year veteran was always a consistent option for the Minnesota Vikings. Rudolph’s catch rate topped 75% in each of his last three seasons.
Last year, Evan Engram was at the center of a slew of turnovers. He dropped 11 passes on 109 targets in 2020 and was targeted on 6 interceptions. Engram also lost a fumble and mishandled an end-around pitch from Daniel Jones that resulted in a turnover (Jones was credited with the fumble, though). Engram still brought explosion and play-making ability to the tight end position with 654 receiving yards, 29 first downs, and a long reception of 53 yards. However, Evan Engram was also the most inconsistent and unreliable receiver on the Giants last season.
From 2018 to 2020, Kyle Rudolph dropped 1 pass on 167 targets. This kind of reliability underneath will be huge for the Giants’ offense in 2021. Daniel Jones had 23 passes dropped in 2020. Getting Jones a tight end he can depend on to consistently haul in underneath passes was an exceptional move by the Giants in this offseason period.