–Giants head coach Pat Shurmur doesn’t know legendary tight end Mark Bavaro very well, having just met Bavaro at a team function not too long ago,
However, he has an appreciation for how Bavaro was as a player, when his tough, gritty style helped endear him to Giants fans.
It’s that gritty aura Bavaro always projected that Shurmur sees in another Giants tight end, Rhett Ellison, who with Evan Engram sidelined for at least two weeks with an MCL sprain in his right knee, will probably be called upon to play a larger role the offense.
“I’m fond of Rhett, who he is as a player and as a person. He epitomizes a player that you want on your team. He’s very good at what he does, he can line up anywhere, he finds a way to make plays,” Shurmur said Wednesday.
“He’s very trustworthy and very tough, and he’s wired like a football player, and that is what you’re looking for. I made the analogy, and this probably isn’t fair because I don’t know Mark Bavaro that well, but I sensed the same kind of aura when I met him the other night — just a tough guy that’s going to do what he’s asked and let the chips fall. That’s what Rhett is.”
Ellison, 6-foot-5, 254 pounds, has been an underrated member of the Giants’ offense since he signed with the team last season as an unrestricted free agent. In two seasons as a Giant, he’s caught 30 out of 34 pass targets — an astonishing 88.2 percent conversion rate — for 295 yards and three touchdowns, with just one dropped ball per Pro Football Focus.
He’s also been a top blocker in the Giants’ running game.
What Ellison can’t do, however, is step into Engram’s exact role as a chess piece that can be moved all over the formation. Engram has better than average speed, allowing him to run patterns down the seam and gain big chunks of yardage.
But that’s just fine with Shurmur, who realizes that it’s his job to figure out how to put players into the correct position to make plays.
“There’s a few little things that you would only do with Evan in there, then there’s other things that we’ll do with Rhett in there,” Shurmur said.
“We just tweak it. There’s plenty of plays, and we’ll just kind of tailor it toward what those guys can do.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 2 — Number of interceptions strong safety Landon Collins needs to reach 10 for his career.
