NY Giants Theo Johnson in Line for a Big Leap Forward in Year 2

In the aftermath of the failed experiment with veteran tight end Darren Waller, who was acquired by the NY Giants in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023 but only saw one disappointing season with the franchise before electing to retire ahead of 2024, the Giants needed to procure a replacement to ensure they had a capable receiving threat at the position moving forward. 

Their answer was Penn State prospect Theo Johnson, the 107th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, who was one of the better and somewhat forgotten tight end prospects in the class. 

Johnson has been among a handful of elite players to come from the Nittany Lions program, and the Giants love him as an early Day 3 pick for his solid size and athleticism for a pass catcher. 

Johnson would join a receiving corps already aligned with a few capable targets, including fellow rookies Malik Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Darius Slayton, who could elevate the success of the Giant's aerial offense. 

The one common problem that would unfurl for most of them was that they didn't have the best signal caller to capitalize on their unique abilities. 

For the 24-year-old tight end, more specifically, it took several weeks to see any tangible impact come from him. By the time he started to find a groove, it wasn’t very long before an unfortunate injury would steal the rest of his rookie campaign away from him. 

The good news is that the Giants haven’t done much in terms of bringing in highly competitive players to potentially challenge Johnson this summer, meaning the throne is still his to keep in 2025 if he remains healthy. 

What’s left to be seen is, with a new party of quarterbacks under center and a renewed offensive approach, could the second-year tight end find his way to the type of campaign he expected to put forth just a year ago?

Theo Johnson, TE

2024 in Review

Johnson’s professional debut was very close to most of the production he compiled in his final season at Penn State in 2023, but it was deemed quite dismal relative to the expectations that both sides had in mind for his initial impact on the offense. 

Johnson appeared in 12 games for the Giants last season, starting in all 12 of them, and finished fourth on the team’s receiving leaderboard with 29 receptions on 43 targets for 331 yards, one touchdown, and an average catch of 11.4 yards. 

Only the average haul was an improvement from his numbers on the collegiate level, partly an indication of how the adjustment to the NFL game can affect a player’s production, yet still not the only root cause. 

That stat sheet earned Johnson a mediocre , third in the position group behind Chris Manhertz and Daniel Bellinger, who each finished with less production and the former serving as more of an inline blocking tight end for the team. 

The first few weeks of Johnson’s rookie season were a slow drip, notching just three receptions in the first month of the regular season before he had one of his best individual games as a young Giant. 

In Week 5 against Seattle, Johnson caught a season-high five passes for 48 yards and a long of 22 yards in the Giants’ 29-20 victory that marked their second of the season. 

He would again hit the five-catch mark in the Giants’ Week 13 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving and turn them into a season-high 54 yards and an average of 10.8 yards per catch. 

Johnson would score his first NFL touchdown in Week 9 against the Washington Commanders, which was one of seven games in which he recorded at least three grabs. 

One of the few head-scratching numbers from Johnson’s first year was the Giants’ inability to find him over the top in the intermediate range, something he built his draft resume on during his time at Penn State. Instead, he only secured two catches on targets of at least 20+ yards, totaling 60 yards and that sole touchdown, which ranked him third among rookie tight ends with a .

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Contract/Cap Info

Theo Johnson is entering the second season of his four-year, $4.851 million rookie contract. The deal currently sits on the bottom end of the Giants’ top 51 contracts for the 2025 season and makes Johnson the 78th highest paid tight end among 195. 

The contract also came with a $831, 436 signing bonus which prorated to $207,859 per year. Johnson counts for $1.167 million this year against the cap. 

2025 Preview

Like a few other players in the Giants’ offensive huddle who had less than desirable resumes last fall, all early indications should point towards Johnson and his teammates having more fruitful campaigns in 2025 as New York has reconstructed their quarterbacks room and provided better options to connect to their arsenal of capable weapons. 

Johnson was often neglected in the Giants' offensive production on Sundays due to a lack of consistency under center, which was initially perpetuated by Daniel Jones and his tendency to get rid of the football before the entire play developed across the field. 

In the times he did seek out Johnson, the two couldn’t build that connection as the latter was often overthrown or asked to make difficult catches that even his athletic body couldn’t complete. 

After the Giants exchanged Jones for Russell Wilson, who is expected to assume the starting job this season, all that should get addressed and resolved for players like Johnson.  

The Giants offense has assets that can create damage on an opposing defense at different points on the field, and Johnson is no stranger to that when he has the right quarterback finding him in the open field. 

The Giants need to utilize their sophomore tight end more often because he is another player who can create mismatches in various ways, which will enhance the team’s overall product this season.

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