Tag: Daniel Bellinger

Giants’ Daniel Bellinger focusing on small details of his game

Giants rookie TE Daniel Bellinger is focusing on the smaller details of his game.

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The New York Giants are entering a new chapter at tight end this season. Gone are the beleaguered Evan Engram, Kaden Smith and the one-and-done Kyle Rudolph.

In are veterans Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins, the returning Chris Myarick and rookie Daniel Bellinger, a fourth-round draft pick out of Brady Hoke’s San Diego State program. The Giants also have invited UDFAs Austin Allen and Andre Miller to training camp.

Bellinger is the player the Giants are hoping will jump to the top of the depth chart at some point this year. The 6-foot-5, 253-pounder has both the prototype NFL tight end frame and characteristics as well as a well-rounded game.

Focusing on the smaller details of his game is the objective for the rookie right now.

“This level is a lot more particular on the small details, whether it’s one-foot step, one kind of leverage on a route, compared to college,” Bellinger said on the Giants’ official podcast. “College wasn’t as particular on the small details because sometimes you’re just straight up better than the guy across from you. But at this level, everybody is good. More often than not, the guy across from you is going to be better. So, in order to beat him, you have to win with small details and the small technical things in that kind of aspect.”

Bellinger did not fill the stat sheet at SDSU during his career but the potential was there. He was a solid route runner and – Giant fans will like this – did not drop any passes in 2021 and was the best at his potion in their draft when it came to ball security and drops.

“I’m all over, a hybrid,” Bellinger said. “Of course, you know the tight ends run block, pass block. But definitely one that’s going to get his hand in the dirt, and another that’s going to get open and catch some balls. One that does kind of both … I want to show that I do have a lot of potential, not just in the run game, but in the passing game as well.”

Bellinger’s ability to block should make him a candidate to play all three downs. The Giants are seeking some stability at tight end after years of tumult and underperformance. Bellinger could be the player who changes the narrative.

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Brady Hoke: Daniel Bellinger will bring unparalleled toughness to Giants

Brady Hoke says New York Giants rookie TE Daniel Bellinger is tough as nails and a much better receiver than people realize.

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When the New York Giants selected tight end Daniel Bellinger in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft, many felt it was a bit of a reach. That was a common theme for most of the team’s mid-round picks.

However, throughout OTAs and minicamp, it quickly became apparent what the Giants saw in Bellinger. Not only was he studious, intelligent and sound as a blocker, he also possesses solid hands and quickly developed as a receiver.

Bellinger is also tough as nails, which is why Brady Hoke originally tried to recruit him as a defensive player.

“I think No. 1, his toughness,” Hoke told The Giants Huddle podcast. “We pride ourselves about being tough and physical as a football team on both sides of the ball and the kicking game.

“I tried recruiting him on the defensive side of the ball — part of that was the toughness that he has, his skillset as far as fundamentally and [the] techniques of blocking at the point of attack. We were a Big 12 personnel team, and he fit everything we needed from him, whether it be on the line or off the line.”

Hoke believes that Bellinger is just now scratching the surface of his receiving ability. At 6-foot-5 and 253 pounds, he’s a big target and his toughness gives him an added edge.

“No. 1, it comes down to competitiveness and the competitor running correct routes, your release from the line of scrimmage,” said Hoke. “I think all of those things are things that goes back to Dan and Dan’s No. 1 leadership, his expectations and standards, that he has for himself. I’ve been coaching for a long time, and he’s one of those guys that you wish you had more of them over the years…

“He’s a competitor. He’s going to be physical. He’s going to have a mindset that those 50-50 balls, whatever you want to call them, he’s going to fight like hell to come down with the football.”

The Giants are thin at tight end and could really benefit from Bellinger’s potential emergence. He appears to be the odds-on favorite to start the season and is poised to contribute in a number of ways.

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Giants’ Daniel Bellinger will attend Tight End U this summer

New York Giants rookie Daniel Bellinger will attend George Kittle and Travis Kelce’s Tight End U this summer.

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The New York Giants believe they have a potential top tight end in rookie Daniel Bellinger, a fourth-round pick out of San Diego State. So much so, that they are sending him back to school this summer for further development.

The school Bellinger will attend is not actually a ‘school’ but more of a camp run by All-Pro tight ends Travis Kelce and George Kittle, which focuses on playing the position at the NFL level.

Bellinger will be heading to Nashville later this month along with scores of others to “spend time breaking down film, running through drills, discussing the theory and practicality of their jobs, and bonding over their mutual love of all things tight end,” as per Newsday’s Tom Rock.

Bellinger possesses prototypical size (6’5″, 253) for the position and has shown that he has the potential to become a full-service NFL tight end. He also has the right mindset and understanding of the position.

“You’re pounding the guy, you’re pounding the guy, he thinks you’re going to pound him again, and you slip out and get a touchdown,” Bellinger told Rock about what his role is likely to be.

The Giants are in flux at tight end at the moment. They cut ties with last year’s group (Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph and Kaden Smith) and are heading in a new direction with veteran Ricky Seals-Jones, Jordan Akins and a slew of younger players, including Bellinger.

As for the camp, Bellinger is looking forward to rubbing elbows with some of the best tight ends in the game.

“I just want to learn from them,” Bellinger said this week. “I have a long way to go but the biggest thing for me is to learn from them. You grow up watching them and then in college you watch them on tape but now getting an opportunity to either just text them or talk to them . . . I can really get an inside perspective.”

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Daniel Bellinger named potential Giants ‘rookie gem’

New York Giants TE Daniel Bellinger has been listed among the NFL’s potential 2022 “rookie gems.”

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Every year NFL teams find “gems” in the draft. Those are players that get overlooked during the weekend of the NFL draft and either go undrafted or get selected later than expected and go on to have solid pro careers.

In a recent piece in Bleacher Report, Ian Wharton lists each team’s potential “gem” in this year’s rookie class. For the New York Giants, it’s fourth-round tight end Daniel Bellinger, selected 112th overall out of San Diego State.

Bellinger could be the rare rookie tight end who puts up solid numbers if he’s featured enough. At 6’5″, 253 pounds, Bellinger is a big target for quarterback Daniel Jones to hit up the seams. Despite producing only 68 career catches for 771 yards and five scores at San Diego State, Bellinger showed strong hands and great post-catch effort. He opened eyes with his 4.63-second 40-yard dash at the combine.

A willing blocker and possibly untapped athlete, Bellinger needs opportunities to develop for this offense to reach its ceiling. With defenses more concerned about Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard, Bellinger should get plenty of advantageous looks. Watch for the Day 3 pick to earn steal status quickly.

Wharton points out that new head coach Brian Daboll got the most out of Dawson Knox during his time as the offensive coordinator in Buffalo and could use Bellinger in a similar role as a “potential difference-maker.”

Knox had a breakout season in 2021 with 49 receptions for 587 yards and nine touchdowns.

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Daniel Bellinger recalls ‘heart pounding’ moment Giants drafted him

Tight end Daniel Bellinger said his “heart was pounding” when his moment arrived and the New York Giants called to draft him.

The New York Giants needed a tight end entering the third day of the 2022 NFL draft and they secured one in short order.

With their first pick of the fourth round (No. 112 overall), the Giants selected San Diego State tight end Daniel Bellinger.

Bellinger joins a nearly brand new tight end group in 2022 that will include Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins, as well as Chris Myarick, who was on the team briefly and scored a touchdown last season.

Bellinger said his heart was pounding when he got the call that he was coming to East Rutherford to begin his professional football career.

“I was just super excited. My heart was pounding when I got the call. It was a great process with them. I enjoyed every single second talking to the coaches and the assistant GM. It was a great process with them,” Bellinger told reporters on Saturday.

Bellinger said blocking was the strength of his game and he feels like good blocker, but also sees himself as a very versatile player who can make the necessary catches and big plays when needed.

“Blocking and being versatile in both the passing game and blocking game because I think I can do a good job blocking and I can stretch the field and make plays when I need to,” Bellinger said of his strengths.

“It really came down to game plan and schemes that we needed to do for that week. And if I didn’t get enough balls, that’s all right as long as we got the win.”

In four years at San Diego State, Bellinger hauled in 68 catches for 771 yards and five touchdowns. During his senior season, Bellinger had 31 catches for 357 yards and two touchdowns.

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2022 NFL draft: Giants select TE Daniel Bellinger in Round 4

With the No. 112 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select San Diego State tight end Daniel Bellinger.

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With the No. 112 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select San Diego State tight end Daniel Bellinger.

Entering the draft, it was clear the Giants needed a tight end. They lost Evan Engram to Jacksonville and also released Kyle Rudolph and Kaden Smith this offseason. And while Bellinger is not a flashy pick, he’s a functional pick who will provide an immediate impact.

Here is what NFL Network draft guru Lance Zierlein had to say about Bellinger:

Y tight end with an NFL build and adequate athletic ability but a need to keep the motor running hot in order to maximize his potential as a run blocker. While he could use a little more grit at the point of attack, additional technique work will improve Bellinger’s success rate as both a zone and man blocker. He won’t create any coverage mismatches, but he has reliable hands, can make contested catches and is fairly savvy working against zone. He’s a Day 3 prospect, but his consistency as a run blocker will determine whether he’s a short-term backup or longer-term contributor.

Many experts believe Bellinger, who nearly attended Navy, has a chance to be a better pro player than he was a college player. His blocking ability will keep him on the field as he develops as a receiver.

Bellinger joins a tight end group that currently consists of Ricky Seals-Jones, Jordan Akins, Chris Myarick and others.

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2022 NFL Draft Profile: San Diego State TE Daniel Bellinger

The Aztecs tight end was a quiet part of the team’s success for years, but he’s flashed the tools to be a big NFL contributor.

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2022 NFL Draft Profile: San Diego State TE Daniel Bellinger

The Aztecs tight end was a quiet part of the team’s success for years, but he’s flashed the tools to be a big NFL contributor.

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A pre-draft star looks to make good in the pros.

The San Diego State Aztecs of recent vintage have largely been renown for their defensive process, so it’s easy to overlook that the program has also put its share of offensive contributors into the National Football League over the last decade or so: Gavin Escobar, Donnel Pumphrey, and Rashaad Penny, just to name a few.

Add to that list Daniel Bellinger, who had one of the more thankless roles in the Aztec offense over the last couple years as its primary tight end. Without a stat line like that of Trey McBride or Cole Turner, it’d be tempting to think there’s no way he could measure up but outstanding performances throughout the pre-draft process put the lie to a lack of catches and touchdowns. Put simply, Bellinger can play.

The question now is where that will be.

Measurables (taken from Mockdraftable)

Highlights

Strengths

Don’t confuse the lack of receptions in college with an inability to catch the football. Draft analysts, from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein to The Draft Network’s Drae Harris to The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, are generally in agreement that Bellinger has the hands to succeed as a pass-catcher in a NFL offense. He also has the hand-eye coordination and catch radius to remain capable of lining up in the slot, though he may end up closer to the point of attack more often in 12 personnel.

That’s because most of what he was asked to do at San Diego State involved helping the Aztecs’ running game, and he’s got the tools to continue helping out in that front. What Blue Chip Scouting’s Devin Jackson calls a “finisher’s mindset” allows him to play effectively inline, something about which analysts have questions in Mountain West peers like Derrick Deese Jr. and Cole Turner, where his hands and willingness to get physical can help running backs get through their running lanes.

Weaknesses

Despite the catchy 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine, Bellinger won’t be confused for a Travis Kelce-like downfield threat in the passing game because there appears to be some disagreement as to just how athletic he is: Brugler tabs Bellinger as an “above-average athlete” but believes he is more “one-speed” and Harris describes him as being more “sufficient”, while Football Sapient’s John Vogel and NFL Draft Buzz take a more lukewarm overall stance.

While he flashed some ability to earn yards after the catch as a route runner with the Aztecs, offenses may end up getting more from him as a possession receiver rather than one to be counted on for chunk plays since he isn’t particularly elusive. That may limit his upside relative to others who flashed big-time tools, like Virginia’s Jelani Woods, but there’s nothing wrong with being a high-floor prospect.

NFL Comparison

Robert Tonyan

Draft Prediction

Bellinger looked sharp at both the Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine and definitely made himself a good chunk of money with those performances. He may not be quite the chess piece that other tight ends in this year’s class could be, but Bellinger won’t be pigeon-holed into one role on a pro offense and he’s a good bet to hear his name early on Day 3, probably in the fourth round.

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Report: Titans hosting TE Daniel Bellinger for top 30 visit

Bellinger is the third top-30 visit the Titans have had or will have with a TE that we know about.

The Tennessee Titans are doing their homework on tight ends ahead of the 2022 NFL draft as the team looks for a potential long-term solution at the position.

According to The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, the Titans are hosting San Diego State TE Daniel Bellinger for a top-30 visit. Melo projects that Bellinger could be drafted somewhere between rounds four and five.

As shown in Melo’s tweet, Bellinger posted an impressive Relative Athletic Score (RAS) of 9.69, per Kent Lee Platte. The San Diego State product posted a 40 time of 4.63 and a vertical of 35 inches (unofficial).

On top of having solid athleticism and an ability to make an impact as a pass-catcher, Bellinger is also a good blocker, as noted by The Draft Network’s Drae Harris.

Blocking Skills: He displays good blocking skills, particularly in the run game when he is in-line. He has some nastiness to him and is physical at the point of attack. He also does a good job engaging in space.

Pass Protection: He demonstrates the competitiveness and toughness to be good in pass protection. He also has the length to lock-out on defenders. This is a player who can stay in and max protect with ease.

If the Titans decide not to go with a tight end in the early rounds, Bellinger would be a solid option who checks both boxes that Tennessee needs in a future tight end. Adding to that, he’d have time to develop with Austin Hooper set to man the TE1 role in 2022.

Bellinger is the third top-30 visit the Titans have had or will have with a tight end that we know of, with the others being Texas A&M’s Jalen Wydermyer and Colorado State’s Trey McBride.

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Lions 2022 NFL draft: A tight end for every round

The latest in the “prospect for each round of the 2022 NFL draft” series focuses on tight ends, a definite need for the Detroit Lions

It doesn’t get brought up very often in the list of Detroit Lions needs this offseason, but tight end definitely merits inclusion. The Lions bring back Pro Bowler T.J. Hockenson, who should be healthy and ready to roll once again. Free agent signee Garrett Griffin can handle the veteran blocking TE role, at least that’s the expectation. Griffin is on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract so that certainly doesn’t mean anything for the long-term team building.

The rest of the depth chart consists of undrafted rookies from a year ago (Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra) and some castoffs (Matt Sokol, Jared Pinkney) who have collectively never caught a single NFL pass. While the Lions subsisted a year ago by using an extra offensive tackle (primarily Will Holden, still unsigned) as a blocking tight end, it would be nice to get some youthful potential with experience at the position into the Lions pipeline. Hockenson is the only tight end under contractual control after 2022.

As with the rest of this series of identifying potential prospects of interest in each round of the draft, the purpose here isn’t to advocate for any one player. It’s to show the different options that could be available for Lions GM Brad Holmes and his staff to consider, and what caliber of player and positional depth looks like in this class.

Lions 2022 NFL draft: A quarterback for every round

Lions 2022 NFL draft: A safety for every round

Lions 2022 NFL draft: A wide receiver for every round

Tight end is a little tougher. There isn’t a prospect worthy of consideration with any of the Lions’ first three picks (2, 32, 34). To keep the same format, consider the second-rounder listed here as the Lions’ pick at the top of the third. It seems very unlikely any tight ends are drafted by any team in the first 50 or so picks this year.

Updated Ravens 7-round 2022 mock draft

We look at an updated seven-round 2022 mock draft for the Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have a treasure trove of selections to use in the 2022 NFL draft, holding 10 picks overall, including nine in the first four rounds. This year’s 2022 class is a deep one, and Baltimore should be able to find plenty of solid contributors that can help them both next season and well into the future.

There are many different directions that the Ravens could go in during next month’s draft. Even though they’ve filled out some areas of need during free agency, they can still improve in many areas over the course of draft weekend.

Below, we put together an updated 2022 mock draft for Baltimore where they favor getting better in the trenches in the early rounds and filling out depth late.