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I am standing in the middle of the Giants practice field following another sweltering practice looking up, looking way up, at 6-foot-6, 259-pound Theo Johnson.
He is the rookie tight end out of Penn State who happens to be bigger than Mark Bavaro and bigger than Jeremy Shockey, and Daniel Jones has to be dreaming that Johnson can be as big for him as Bavaro was for Phil Simms and Shockey was for Eli Manning for a while.
I ask Theo Johnson if he is familiar with the two Giants tight ends of yesteryear, and start with Bavaro.
“I’ve heard that name, yeah,” he says.
How about Jeremy Shockey?
“Yup, yup,” he says.
Do you ever watch tapes of them?
“I’ve watched a little bit of Jeremy Shockey, I remember, when I got drafted,” he said. “I saw a lot of people talk about Jeremy Shockey and the history of him in the tight end position here so I looked into him a little bit.”
He liked what he found.
“I think he plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played,” Johnson said.
Simms joked months back about Bill Parcells always imploring him to throw to Bavaro. When Simms shot back that Bavaro was covered, Parcells told him: “Simms, you just don’t understand — when he’s covered, he’s open.”
Imagine what a quarterback-friendly tight end could do for Daniel Jones.
“I’m working more and more to become quarterback friendly,” Johnson said. “I think that comes with knowing the playbook in and out, and I still got some work to do in that respect. Because quarterback friendly is just someone that’s reliable, and that’s not just making the catch, but also being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. So I think that once I get the playbook down, I will be that.”
Bavaro was as rough and tough as they come, and running-back friendly at the point of attack. Johnson considers himself a traditional TE … with 4.57 speed and a welcoming catch radius.
“I understand as a tight end, what you do in the run game and the pass protection game is just as important,” he said.
You enjoy blocking.
“Yeah.”
Because you enjoy imposing your will on the defender.
“Yes.”
Bavaro was a stone cold assassin. Shockey played with passion and fire. I asked Johnson if he plays angry.
“I wouldn’t say I play angry,” he said, “but you gotta get yourself in a different mode, a different mindset of aggression. You can be aggressive without necessarily being angry. I think sometimes when you play angry you can play a little bit out of control. So it’s all about controlling your emotions, so I wouldn’t say I play angry, but I definitely play aggressive, and have a way of getting myself into a different mode than I am right now just talking to you.”
Ask Pat Mahomes about his tight end, Travis Kelce. Ask Lamar Jackson about Mark Andrews. Ask Jared Goff about Sam LaPorta. Ask Josh Allen about Dalton Kincaid. Ask Brock Purdy about George Kittle.
“It’s exciting to have such an important role,” Johnson said, “but that means that a lot falls on your shoulders, and as a tight end you have to know that and be OK with that.”
Johnson was not OK with falling into the fourth round of the NFL draft.
“You’re gonna have to ask all the 32 NFL teams and ask them why I fell that far,” he said.
Chip, meet shoulder.
“I’m gonna work and show that I’m worth more than that,” Johnson said.
He vowed to Brian Daboll on draft night that he would not regret it.
“They got a steal out of me,” Johnson reiterated. “They got a guy that’s gonna work his tail off every single day. I might be a talented guy, but I don’t hang my hat on my talent, I hang my hat on my work ethic and how I show up every day.”
He sounds like Bavaro when he tells you: “I think I play with a lot of grit and toughness. I think that I play the game hard, I play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Back in Canada, they likened him to Tony Gonzalez. Johnson also liked Rob Gronkowski.
“I think I can make a big impact on the team,” Johnson said. “I’m working for a role, and I’m gonna thrive in whatever role I have and I earn.”
A 6-6, 259-pound friend for Daniel Jones.
