The Good, The Great, and The Ugly of New Giants TE Isaiah Likely's Game

Free agency started with a splash around the NFL, and the New York Giants let it be known that they were going to be players on day one by signing tight end Isaiah Likely to a three-year, $40 million deal.

The Giants were looking to get more dynamic at the position with Daniel Bellinger being an unrestricted free agent and Johnson not showing that he was ready to assume the mantle as a top-level receiving tight end option.

What Likely brings to the table is receiver-like explosiveness at the tight end position. He has played with a quarterback who knows how to scramble and improvise when things break down, so he should be a great fit for Jackson Dart in this offense.

He's an exciting addition and is still young enough to grow with the young nucleus on his team.

Let's take a look at the good, the great, and the ugly of Isaiah Likely’s game.

The Good Catch Radius and High-Point Ability

The Good on new #NYGiants TE Isaiah Likely is his catch radius and ability to high point the football. pic.twitter.com/EQHlEeDroz
— Coach Gene Clemons (@geneclemons) March 10, 2026

One of the advantages of being 6-foot-5 with long arms is that you can get your hands on a lot of passes. It also allows the quarterback the luxury of not being deathly accurate.

In many cases throughout the previous season, the Giants did not have a guy they could rely on to pluck the ball out of the air and help the quarterback when they were not at their most accurate.

Likely has that ability to not only turn a bad pass into a good one, but to turn an incompletion or a possible turnover into an explosive play.

Likely turns 50-50 balls into 80-20 balls because he has the size to box out smaller defenders, and he has the explosion to jump over bigger defenders.

When you mix that with extremely reliable hands, you can see why he's been so successful as a big-play receiver throughout his four years in the NFL.

The Great: Run-After-Catch Ability

The Great of new #NYGiants TE Isaiah Likely is his run-after-catch ability. pic.twitter.com/NxDUBuShl1
— Coach Gene Clemons (@geneclemons) March 10, 2026

Likely isn't just a sedentary pass receiver. He understands how to gain yards after the catch.

One of his best traits is catching the ball, flipping his hips and eyes around to locate the defender, and then exploding up the field to gain extra yardage. If he gets the ball on the move, he can chew up lots of ground on a defender.

Sometimes, he just has the ability to break tackles and pick up extra yards. He routinely catches short crossing passes and turns upfield, gaining many more yards.

He is also adept at catching out-routes and turning up the field before he runs out of bounds to get more yardage.

Likely can pick up yardage using his speed or his physicality. It just depends on the matchup.

Against smaller defensive backs, he's able to catch the ball, turn, and use his physicality to bully those defensive backs into more yards after the catch.

Against bigger, more physical defenders, he is able to use his speed and quickness to create separation and pick up extra yards.

The Ugly: Inline Blocking

The Ugly of new #NYGiants TE Isaiah Likely is his inline blocking or blocking close to the scrum. pic.twitter.com/kc7w0QMqWM
— Coach Gene Clemons (@geneclemons) March 10, 2026

Likely's blocking has definitely improved from his collegiate days at Coastal Carolina, where he was essentially a big slot receiver, but he still won't be mistaken for Chris Manhertz.

Yes, Likely is a good perimeter blocker, but when it comes to handling defensive linemen in the trenches, he still leaves a lot to be desired. He can be outmuscled and displaced, making it harder for backs to run.

As a movable chess piece blocker, he does a great job, but when he has to put his hand in the dirt, that's where many of his problems with blocking lie.

Coach's Corner: The Wan'Dale Robinson Replacement?

What if I told you that losing Wan'Dale Robinson to free agency is not as big a deal because the Giants have signed Isaiah Likely?

While Likely is a legitimate tight end, he does a lot of the same things that Robinson did at the slot position.

The difference is that he is in a 6-foot-5, 250-pound package. He can catch short passes, turn them upfield, and get first downs.

He could be a target monster for the Giants and collect many of the passes that Robinson garnered.

With Robinson and Daniel Bellinger signing in Tennessee, there are now 166 targets available, and I am certain that Likely would be more than happy to gobble up many of those.

He also provides the ability to go deep and come down with 50-50 balls. The Giants may have just found their Wan'Dale Robinson, but on the Captain America Super Serum.

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