Giants TE Theo Johnson Picked As Most Improved Tight End Ahead of 2025 Season

Among the various positions on the New York Giants roster, they’ll be looking to see a major improvement in 2025. One of the less obvious yet still relevant areas is the tight end position, with incoming second-year player Theo Johnson at the forefront.

Johnson, the Giants’ 107th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has been a part of a slew of impactful prospects from Penn State to make it to the professional level and one of two tight ends in the last two drafts (the other being Tyler Warren in this year’s event) to be selected as a Day 2 pick or earlier.

Johnson was among the top 15 highest-graded pass-catching tight ends in the Big 10 over his tenure with the Nittany Lions. He finished with a 65.3 PFF receiving grade by his senior season and caught an average throw of at least 10 yards while collecting 12 touchdowns in the last three seasons with the school.

The Giants had a massive failure in their experiment with Darren Waller during the 2023 season, a veteran trade acquisition who couldn’t make enough of an impact and diversify the team’s offense before he elected to retire at the end of the campaign.

The team selected Johnson in the fourth round last spring to replace him, but unfortunately, the results didn’t reach as far as they’d hoped.

The 24-year-old played in only 11 games of his debut season thanks to a foot injury, amassing 29 receptions for 331 yards, one touchdown, and an average haul of 11.4 yards that was good enough for fourth on the Giants receiving leaderboard before injuring his foot and sitting out the rest of the way.

Now, Johnson will be returning to the field in full health and remains the No. 1 guy in his position room ahead of the 2025 season. The hope remains for the Giants to have a dynamic receiving tight end in their arsenal from a young player who has flashed intermediate abilities before arriving, as Johnson, Pro Football Focus’s choice for the most improved tight endfor the coming season, did.

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (84) attempts to catch a pass while being guarded by Washington Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu (4) during a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In naming Johnson as his choice for most improved tight end candidate, PFF’s Thomas Valentine said, “In truth, Johnson’s season ended just as he was starting to find a groove, unfortunately halting his momentum. However, the circumstances for his return and the offensive environment he’ll find himself in in 2025 are far greater.

“The Giants’ 64.4 grade on offense in 2024 was 29th in the NFL, but with Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, or even Jaxson Dart at quarterback, there should be more consistency on offense.”

While the Giants dealt with another year of grueling injuries to key players, Johnson’s ailment was one of the most disappointing as he truly was finding his footing in the latter half of the season. His last five games saw him poach 18 catches for 216 yards and his lone touchdown after he had just 11 grabs in the first seven contests.

On the consistency front, his max potential was often missed by the lack of a good passing operation by the quarterbacks the Giants had to rotate through. As stated in previous articles, the Giants’ arms didn’t post very positive adjusted completion percentages in 2024, with only one above 71% in Tommy DeVito, albeit that was in a strictly limited workload.

Even when Daniel Jones was under center, there were more than a few instances where a major disconnect seemed to exist between him and his new target, a 6-foot-6 player with a basketball frame in Johnson, who had a contested catch ability in his skill set.

Johnson was often overthrown in stride, which limited his intermediate receiving damage, where he showed off his skills the most.

Last season, Johnson only ranked 30th among the position in production on passes of 20+ yards, notching just three catches for 60 yards and the touchdown he scored in Week 9 against the Washington Commanders when Jones made a rare beautiful pass over the top to the tight end for his first professional endzone visit.

That is not what the Giants envisioned for their young player when he was drafted, somewhat surprisingly, in the fourth round. They need more from Johnson, who they expect to be one of their biggest contributors in the deep field, especially since the rest of the position group doesn’t possess that same talent in a high volume.

There should be optimism about a change in that outcome, with Russell Wilson taking over the offense as one of the better deep passers across the league in his career. Wilson ranked fourth with a 95.0 deep passing grade last season, including a total of 697 yards, five touchdowns, and a big-time throw percentage of 34.7% that finished in the top 10 signal callers.

Even if Wilson doesn’t make it through the whole season, the Giants have a trio of passers whom they feel more confident about being able to execute a more explosive offense. One that is sure to hand Johnson his fair share of targets and offer him the shot of producing a better resume than the one he left the field early with as a rookie.

The Giants haven’t had a truly impactful tight end in some time, but they very well have one in Johnson with the right quarterback. It’s been the missing piece for the entire offense, as Brian Daboll pointed out loudly last season, and now it’s time to see if the story changes now that the team has their wish in any of the three candidates in their locker room this summer.

JOIN US ON SOCIAL MEDIA! Follow and like us onFacebook and Instagram. Don't forget to check out our YouTube channel. And if you want to send a letter to our mailbag,you can do so here.

More New York Giants Coverage