Giants' Tight End Room Has Elite Upside -- and One Concern

John Harbaugh called the Giants' tight end room one of the best in the NFL. Isaiah Likely and Theo Johnson have the tools to prove him right — and a few reasons they might not.

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh believes in his tight ends room.

“There’s not a better tight end group, I don’t think, in the league, potentially,” Harbaugh told fans at the team's annual Town Hall last month. “(Quarterback) Jaxson (Dart) has a bunch of guys to go to.”

That’s a good thing, especially with the ongoing uncertainty as to when receiver Malik Nabers will be back from his ACL rehab.

Harbaugh, in looking to make the offense as versatile as possible and to give Dart options,  made one tweak to the room, bringing in Isaiah Likely, who was with him in Baltimore, to replace Daniel Bellinger, who went to Tennessee.

Likely joins  a room that has third-year pro Theo Johnson, 11-year pro Chris Manhertz and second-year man Thomas Fidone II, all of whom will be heavily counted on to contribute to the bigger bullying offense the Giants plan to unleash in 2026.

Best Case

Tight end Isaiah Likely | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

In short, the best-case scenario is gaining a competitive advantage by forcing defenses to lean heavily into their nickel package, which usually gives the offense a slight advantage.

Likely thrives as a movable piece operating primarily out of the slot, while Johnson is at home on the line of scrimmage.

Likely took about two-thirds of his offensive snaps from the slot in 2025, while most of Johnson's came as an in-line tight end.

If Matt Nagy's heavy use of 12 and 13 personnel packages continues in New York, Likely and Johnson should share the field quite a bit.

The former can be used primarily as a receiving threat, with the latter operating more as a blocker and play-action threat. In heavier sets, third tight end Chris Manhertz can be an additional blocking threat.

The pairing of the two players' skill sets should give Nagy the flexibility to diversify the Giants' offense and keep defenses guessing. If he can find the perfect blend of the two, the tight end room will be one he can lean on throughout the year.

Worst Case

Nov 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson (84) makes a catches against Green Bay Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon (25) during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Likely has never been a high-volume target in his career, only surpassing 600 snaps in a season once. That figures to change with the Giants.

But a fair question is whether opposing defenses will hone in on Likely while Nabers works his way back to his old, dominating self. In Baltimore, Likely benefited from having Mark Andrews in the lineup.

With the Giants, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy will have to figure out ways to scheme Likely open so that he doesn’t become just another guy in the passing game.

Meanwhile, Johnson is coming off a statistically improved second season in which he nearly doubled his receptions from his rookie campaign and improved his yardage, finishing with 45 catches out of 74 targets for 528 yards.

Upon closer inspection, his success rate in picking up the minimum yards per down dropped from 51.2% in his rookie season to 40.5% last season, and he logged five more drops, bringing his career total to 10.

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