Daniel Bellinger Back on Top of Giants' Depth Chart After Darren Waller's Retirement

As a rookie, Bellinger was sort of an under-the-radar receiver in the Giants' passing game. He finished that season with a team-best 86.8 reception rate, hauling in 33 of 38 pass targets, which might have been more had he not had to miss multiple games due to a freaky eye injury suffered mid-year. 

Last year, despite again posting a team-best 89.3 reception rate (25 receptions on 28 targets), Bellinger yielded pass targets to Waller, who finished as the third-most targeted receiver in the Giants passing game.

This year Bellinger is the senior statesman of the group. Sidelined during the mandatory minicamp for an undisclosed ailment–head coach Brian Daboll said Bellinger had something a few weeks ago and they were being cautious with him–the Giants have had a chance to look at rookie Theo Johnson and young veteran Lawrence Cager in these last few practices.

Johnson, the team’s fourth-round draft pick out of Penn State has had an impressive-looking spring that he’ll be looking to build upon. The hope is that he, Ballinger, and Cager can give the Giants offense the snaps that Waller gave them last year.

"We have a very competitive tight end room," Bellinger said of the wider picture. "As a whole tight end room, including myself. I think we can take that step and be competitive with any tight end room in the league."

Bellinger took an objective look at his performance last year to identify those areas most in need of refinement. 

“This year, I've been focusing more on route running,” he said. “Of course, I needed to step up in every area of my game. I've been focusing on the pass side of the game, taking strides that way, and taking steps in the run game.”

He’s also been trying to get on the same page as the quarterback, something he really couldn’t do last year given the injuries at the position combined with his limited targets. 

“With the adversity we faced last year, it was a mix of stuff that I needed to be, I guess, more locked in on where guys were at and communicating with whoever was coming in,” he said. “Whether it was a new right tackle, new left tackle, staying on top of that. I'm just taking steps in my game, like I said. Taking steps forward in the passing game and the run game.”

Bellinger is expected to be ready for the start of training camp on July 24.