Theo

Johnson

After spending all of the offseason away from the Giants, Waller is now ready to hang it up. The eight-year vet entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Ravens back in 2015. The former Georgia Tech wide receiver battled through substance abuse issues early in his career and missed the 2017 season as a result of being suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He returned to the Ravens in 2018 and was traded to the Raiders at the end of that season. In 2019, Waller, who had made the permanent switch to tight end, broke out for 90-1145-3 and earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2020 when he caught 107 passes for 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns. Injuries would plague him over the last three years, as he appeared in just 32 of a possible 51 games and played in just 12 games for the Giants in his lone season with the team. Waller overcame late draft capital, early struggles in his career, and a positional overhaul to carve out a solid career for himself. His retirement frees up roughly $11.6 million in cap space for the Giants, who are now expected to go with third-year tight end Daniel Bellinger as their starter. They also selected Penn State’s Theo Johnson with the No. 107 pick in this year’s draft.

Johnson (6'6/259) didn’t see much run during his first two years in Happy Valley and posted a minor breakout campaign in his third season on campus with a 20/328/4 receiving line. He followed that up with a 34/341/7 line in his final collegiate season. Johnson never took on a full-time role at Penn State, failing to reach a 60 percent route run in a single season. When he was on the field, he wasn’t a priority of the passing attack and logged a dismal .14 targets per route. Johnson drastically boosted his draft stock at the combine with a 4.57 40-yard dash and a 4.19-second three-cone drill. He also crushed the jumps en route to a 9.92 RAS. He showed glimpses of that athleticism in contested catch situations, bringing down 67 percent of his career contested targets, but he contributed little after the catch and was inconsistent as a blocker. Johnson has the size and athleticism to big a difference-maker at the next level, but he needs to drastically refine his technique as a run-blocker and as a route-runner. With rumors swirling that Darren Waller is retiring, Johnson may be thrust into a starting role as a rookie, even if his game isn’t NFL-ready just yet. He could provide TE2 numbers based on volume alone if Waller is out of the picture.