HOUSTON — The Giants’ solution to better protect Daniel Jones this season was to raid the Raiders.
General manager Joe Schoen signed defensive end Jakob Johnson on Friday, a day before the Giants’ second preseason game at Houston, while waiving injured tight end Tyree Jackson.
Johnson, whom the Giants call a tight end/fullback, is the third player to take over for new Giants offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo from last year’s Las Vegas Raiders offense to this year’s Giants roster.
Like right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, he played for Bricillo in New England before joining Sin City. Right guard Greg Van Roten also came from Vegas.
Brian Daboll, now the Giants’ full-time playmaker, has moved his tight ends to running back numerous times this summer to improve Jones’ pass protection. But Johnson could seem like an upgrade over the team’s current talent at the position.
Rookie Theo Johnson, veteran Chris Manhertz and 2022 fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger rank among the top three on the Giants’ tight end depth chart right now, with Bellinger seeing plenty of work as a first-team back recently.
But Bellinger has struggled to block and hold on to penalties in the past. That likely makes Saturday’s game against the Texans an important one for Schoen’s draft pick.
Johnson, 29, has been a tight end at times. But he lined up in the backfield on 158 of his 186 offensive snaps last year with Vegas and 272 of 302 snaps in the 2022 season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Lawrence Cager (groin) was a top-three tight end for the Giants but suffered a groin injury and is now out long-term. Free agent Jack Stoll is in the mix after returning from a concussion.
The Giants waived the injured Jackson even though he was supposed to be Saturday’s third emergency quarterback with Drew Lock (hip) injured and not practicing.
Jackson had a back problem and appeared to aggravate it or reinjure it Thursday when he dove to catch a low pass from Tommy DeVito while jogging in practice.
Jackson threw his helmet off and was clearly in pain. He had a good camp with the backups and was the Giants’ second-leading receiver in the preseason opener against Detroit, catching two passes for 34 yards.
One of his receptions set up a one-yard touchdown run by Eric Gray.
Daboll wasn’t sure of Lock’s status for Saturday’s game, even as an emergency QB option.
It wouldn’t seem wise to put Lock in the game, given that his tight obliques and hip pointer are expected to keep him out for at least several weeks.
Johnson, the Giants’ new fullback, is a German-American who joined the NFL through the International Pathway program. The Giants now have NFL marketing rights in Germany and will play the Carolina Panthers in Munich this season, so he should be a good ambassador this fall as well.
LONG AND STRANGE JOURNEY
The Giants’ trip to Houston is their longest preseason game since 1994, when they played the San Diego Chargers in Berlin. It’s also their longest domestic preseason trip since 1990, also to Houston. Saturday’s kickoff is at noon local time in Texas, or 1 p.m. ET.
Originally published:
