After releasing Kyle Rudolph and Kaden Smith and allowing Evan Engram to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent, the Giants needed to add to an already thin, tight end room. So they signed Ricky Seals-Jones, who was willing to leave division rival the Washington Commanders, to come to New York and a potentially increased role within the new Giants offense.
Seals-Jones not only bolsters the tight end position, but he can also provide a little insight about the Washington offense to the new staff, who probably won't be as familiar with the Commanders as was the previous staff.
From an Xs and Os perspective, the signing should give fans an idea of how the new coaching staff wants their tight ends to operate. Seals-Jones was a former member of the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was being groomed in the mold of Travis Kelce. What does he bring to the Giants?
Strength: Physicality
Seals-Jones' background is as a receiver. Coming out of Texas A&M, people didn't project him as a receiver, so he converted to tight end.
What he brings to the table as a tight end is his aggression and ability to use his body to shield off defensive backs in his route running.
One knock against him as a receiver entering the NFL was his inability to separate from defensive backs. Still, he's developed his ability to use his body to box out defenders and fight for the ball because of this deficiency.
At 6'5" and 250 pounds, he presents a frame that is difficult to play around with. He is far too physical for most corners or safeties, and because of the new role of linebackers in the NFL, he's more physical in the pass game than most linebackers in the league.
With all of the receivers on the Giants roster that will have the ability to attack deep or in the intermediate areas, Seals-Jones could become a factor in play-action on shallow crossers and short stop routes to keep the chains moving.
His aggressiveness crosses over into his blocking. 9ne of the things he was good at in college was blocking in space. As a slot he would block defenders at the point of attack. He used his body to cover up defenders and allowed the ball carrier to decide the best place to run.
When he transitioned to the NFL, he picked up inline blocking quickly. While he is not going to move defensive linemen, he uses his frame to cover defenders up and seal them off for the ball carriers.
It also allows him to climb to the second level to block defenders and move across the line for kick-out blocks. He may not be athletic enough to be a receiver, but his athleticism is great around the line of scrimmage.
Weaknesses: Hands and Separation
The things that plagued him coming out of college and effectively ended his career as a receiver are the same things that have kept him from breaking into a permanent starting role in the NFL.
Seals-Jones does always catch the ball comfortably with his hands. The fact that he uses his body to shield defenders means that the only separation that he has is in the distance he makes when he extends his arms to catch passes.
Letting the ball get into his body is an issue if he is not running open. Also, when he does extend his hands, double-clutching can cause costly drops on critical downs.
Although this aspect of his game has improved since he came into the league, it is still a factor. This all stems from his other issue: the inability to separate in his route.
He doesn't have the burst or acceleration to get away from defenders, and he doesn't possess the skill or savvy in his route running to create separation that way. He needs to be schemed open, or a defender has to make a mistake for him to be running open.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately this is a good signing because the Giants needed a guy who has proven that they can operate as a starter in the NFC East and last season during his time with Washington when Logan Thomas went down for an extended time with an injury.
It should not be a surprise if the Giants address the position in the draft, but at minimum, they have a guy who can start at the position in an offense that will probably not use multiple tight ends regularly.
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