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2024 Training Camp

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24 Questions in 24 Days: Don't sleep on these players

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Giants.com is counting down to the start of 2024 Giants Training Camp with 24 questions in 24 days.

12) Who are some sleeper players to watch?

Dan Salomone: Let's look at the tight end position, where there is ample opportunity following the retirement of Darren Waller. Daniel Bellinger enters his third season with 24 starts already under his belt for the Giants, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. He caught three touchdowns as a rookie, including one in the postseason, but none in his sophomore year. However, he averaged 10.2 yards per catch while playing the second-most snaps among all Giants tight ends and wide receivers (Darius Slayton). Bellinger also lined up for 193 plays on special teams, which led the entire offense.

Behind him, it gets interesting.

Lawrence Cager, an undrafted prospect who bounced around from the Jets to the Browns and back to the Jets again, signed with the Giants midway through the 2022 campaign. With some time in the system, Cager flashed throughout the spring while the team awaited Waller's decision. He is certainly a player who could emerge with a strong performance at training camp and in the preseason.

Rookie Theo Johnson will look to do the same thing. A fourth-round pick, Johnson was a team captain at Penn State and caught seven touchdowns in his 2023, tied for third-most in a single-season in program history. At 6-6 and 259 pounds, Johnson ran the 40-yard dash in 4.57 seconds and recorded a 39.5-inch vertical leap at the NFL Scouting Combine. It doesn't take a pro scout to see his potential when takes the field.

The Giants also signed veterans Jack Stoll and Chris Manhertz in free agency, adding depth to a position room now lead by coach Tim Kelly.

"There is a variety of personnel groups you can use [with tight ends]," said head coach Brian Daboll, who once upon a time coached the position for the Patriots. "You can play with one tight end, no tight ends, two tight ends, three tight ends, sometimes four tight ends. Depending on the player, you ask them to learn multiple spots. Most of our guys right now have been trained through Tim (Kelly) to learn two to three spots depending on the personnel group we're in. It's always a challenge when you're learning multiple spots, whether you're young or new. That's the job requirements nowadays. It's kind of evolved throughout the years, but I think it depends, too, on offensively what personnel groups you want to utilize and how many and all the different positions you ask them to play. We certainly ask our guys to do a fair amount in terms of learning our system, playing multiple positions, and one time you're the F, one time you're the Z, one time you could be the X, one time you could be the Y. They do a good job of studying it."

Take a look at rare photos of New York Giants training camps through the years.

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Get excited for the 2024 season with photos from Media Day at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

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