The New York Giants are short on wide receivers these days and not so confident their offensive line can keep quarterback Daniel Jones safe.
So, what was the solution? Head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka decided to go with three tight ends — aka ’13 personnel’– on over half of their offensive snaps in Week 4.
Daniel Bellinger played on 63 percent of the snaps, Chris Myarick played on 60 percent and Tanner Hudson played on 57 percent.
Myarick, listed as an H-back, or fullback, was not targeted in the passing but Bellinger caught three passes for 23 yards and Hudson had an 18-yard grab. They all chipped in to block for the running game.
“I think those guys have made steady improvements. I think coach (Andy) Bischoff has done a really good job with those guys,” said head coach Brian Daboll.
“They’re smart. They’re tough. They’re dependable. We thought that was a good personnel package to use. I thought they played well this game for the things we asked them to do. Bellinger is young. And Tanner and Myarick don’t have a ton of experience or a ton of production in the league. But these guys have been working their tails off since they’ve been here. I think they’re earning the trust of the coaches to put them out on the field more. And in this game, we happened to use a little bit more multiple tight end sets than the previous couple of weeks. But they earned it. That was part of the plan going into the game relative to deciding what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play. I think that will change every week.”
Hudson made big block downfield that sprung Jones on one of his two touchdown runs on Sunday.
“Well, it helps with DJ being a pretty fast quarterback,” said Hudson. “Just trying to get my leverage, get my hands inside and do my best to get him into the endzone. It did feel like a little bit, but once he got in the endzone it’s all worth it.”
Asked about being such a huge part of the game plan, Hudson was realistic. He knows the Giants can’t run so much 13 personnel against every opponent going forward.
“You just fly with the punches. Whatever they throw at you that week, whether it be in the gameplan or just something that comes up here in the game, you’ve just got to roll with it. We’ve got full trust in Bisch to get us lined up and get us ready for whatever the defense has in store for us,” Hudson said.
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