Theo

Johnson

Again, in theory, Johnson could be activated ahead of Week 18. But it seems unlikely that the Giants would do that so let’s call it a wrap on his season. The rookie made in-roads to a No. 3/No. 4 receiver role in his first season, closing with five or more targets in each of his last four games. Unfortunately for Johnson, the uncertainty with the Giants at head coach and general manager portends a possible trip through the “Greg Dulcich Zone,” where a player that was otherwise effective comes down with a case of Not New Management’s Guy. Johnson is a weak dynasty hold at best right now, but this was a fairly promising rookie season.

Johnson was seen in the locker room throwing his shoes in frustration. The reason as to why was a mystery to reporters after Thursday’s loss to the Cowboys, but Daboll offered some clarity on that with Friday’s injury announcement. The rookie tight end caught five passes for 54 yards in the defeat, and has a receiving line of 39-331-1 on the year. Giants’ beat writer Art Stapleton said “Daboll does not sound optimistic” bout Johnson returning this season, but further tests will confirm that in the coming days.

Johnson ended up second in receptions and receiving yards for New York, and third in targets behind Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton. The rookie tight end has a new career high in yardage, and appeared to have a good rapport with Drew Lock. Even if Lock goes again versus the Saints in Week 14, he’s a low-ceiling TE2 for that contest.

It was officially a walkthrough estimation. We imagine at this point we won’t get further clarity on Johnson’s status until the Wednesday report deems him questionable or removes him from the report. We’d bet on him playing on Thursday at this point but it is an open question.

Johnson went 3/39/0 against Tampa Bay on Sunday but trended down by playing only 73 percent of the snaps, his lowest since Week 4. A back injury would help explain some things. It’s possible that this is just injury management, we expect it to be especially tough to get answers on non-star players like Johnson this week because of the short weeks and holidays. The injury report will be the main thing to monitor this week.

For the third straight week, Johnson drew a career high six targets. This time it came with a quarterback change following the Giants’ Week 11 bye. The G-Men clearly want to see what the fourth-round rookie can do down the stretch, but it will be hard to do much of anything with Tommy DeVito under center. With all 32 teams active for Week 13, Johnson will struggle to crack the top 20 vs. the Cowboys.

Johnson is unlikely to become a reliable TE1 with backup QB Tommy DeVito under center but the young tight end may work his way into the streaming conversation in the right matchup. Should Malik Nabers (groin) be sidelined, Johnson has a chance to earn a few safety-blanket targets from the former No. 3 QB.

Johnson logged a limited session on Wednesday but was upgraded to a full participant on Thursday with one practice still to go in the week. The rookie tight end caught 4-of-6 passes for 37 yards in the Giants’ Week 10 loss to the Panthers and profiles as a low-end TE2 against the Buccaneers.

Johnson played through back and knee issues in Week 10 before the Giants’ bye. The team removed the knee injury from his practice report this time around. His limited status is just maintenance as we get deeper into the season. Coming off a six-target game that saw him catch four passes for 37 yards, Johnson is a low-end TE2 for Week 12.

Johnson has at least three catches for 30 yards in five consecutive games. It might not sound like much, but that’s enough of a floor to keep him comfortably inside the TE2 ranks going forward. He will return from the Giants’ Week 11 bye to face the pass-funnel Bucs.