Why TE Larry Donnell Is New York Giants' Most Pleasant Surprise After 3 Weeks

It was late August, training camp had concluded and the regular season was just around the corner. A full summer's worth of offseason workouts had passed, and the New York Giants still weren't sure what direction to go in at tight end.

Head coach Tom Coughlin made it sound like the Giants would be forced to rely upon a committee at the position.

However, in the first three weeks of the season, we've witnessed the emergence of Larry Donnell.

With Ben McAdoo's offense still under construction, Donnell, 25, has developed into an unlikely favorite target of quarterback Eli Manning. Through three games, the oversized acrobat has grabbed a team-leading 18 receptions.

Donnell's production is New York's most pleasant surprise to date because he's still a young and raw pass-catcher, the unit seemingly held such little promise as a whole and he's playing a large role in the Giants' early offensive adventures of 2014.

Gambling on Grambling

Donnell originally landed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent back in 2012.

In college at Grambling State, Donnell started out at quarterback. With a 6'6", 265-pound frame, however, Donnell was too tantalizing a target to not try out at tight end. He was thrown to sparingly, collecting 38 catches for 432 yards through four seasons with the Tigers.

One area in which Donnell has always excelled was in the end zone. Eleven of his collegiate catches were for touchdowns.

His scouting report, courtesy of DraftInsider.net, read like this:

"

Positive: Large prospect who's shown a developing game. Fluid releasing off the line into routes. Adequate receiver when thrown the ball. Strong blocker who stays square and turns defenders off the line. Keeps his head on a swivel. Fights with his hands throughout the action. Explosive at the point.

Negative: Produced very little as a receiver. Lacks dominant strength and struggles to finish blocks.

Analysis: Donnell possesses good size and has shown the athleticism necessary to compete at the next level. He's a developmental prospect who has the tools to be a 3rd tight end.

"

Donnell did not work out at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine, but his pro day measurements—courtesy of NFL Draft Scout—were impressive enough to grab the attention of a few scouts, including talent evaluators from the Giants organization.

The tight end ran a 4.91-second 40-yard dash and recorded a 34.5-inch vertical jump.

He was cut at the conclusion of his first professional camp, only to be re-signed to the practice squad a day later. There, Donnell was stashed throughout 2012, allowing New York to sign him to a reserve/future contract at season's end.

With his potential just beginning to bud, Donnell made the 53-man roster in 2013.

Banking on a Breakout

When the Giants released their first unofficial depth chart of the summer, Donnell's name was the one that stole most headlines. The former UDFA had climbed the ladder to the role of New York's starting tight end.

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Although Donnell flashed ability during the preseason, the 2014 slate began with a large contingent of Giants fans unsold on the team's tight end situation. Through 16 games last season, Donnell started only once and caught a mere three passes—all in a Week 2 loss to the Denver Broncos.

There wasn't much evidence that Donnell was the best option New York had at tight end. Still, the Giants opened up the season with No. 84 in the starting lineup.

Then, in Week 1, with the rest of the offense sputtering, Donnell became one of few New York playmakers out of nowhere. He led the team with five catches for 56 yards versus the Detroit Lions, finding himself on the receiving end of Eli Manning's first touchdown pass of 2014.

Donnell continued to be the lone bright spot in an otherwise poor passing game, leading the team again in Week 2 with seven catches for 81 yards against the Arizona Cardinals.

With so many veterans struggling to pick up the offensive concepts, who would have expected the inexperienced tight end to display so much promise?

Week	Receptions	Yards	Yards/Rec.	Touchdowns
1	5	56	11.2	1
2	7	81	11.6	0
3	6	45	7.5	0

“He has done a good job getting open,” Eli Manning told reporters. “We have called some things where he is the No. 1 read and he is getting open. We have called some things where he wasn’t the No. 1 read and we went through some progressions and he was open. He’s made some nice catches.”

The rest of the skill position players finally caught up to Donnell in Week 3, with receiver Victor Cruz and running back Rashad Jennings each contributing more than 100 yards of offense and a score in the win over the Houston Texans.

While the Giants may not have needed Donnell to propel the offense on Sunday, he did contribute 45 yards on a team-high six receptions.

All in for Improvement

As productive as Donnell has been, with 18 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown through three games, he has plenty of room to improve as an all-around tight end.

Player	Targets
L. Donnell	23
V. Cruz	22
R. Randle	20

What Donnell does best is catch the ball. He has the size and natural athleticism to come away with a contested ball in the end zone or contort his body for a catch in the seam. That's only a fraction of Donnell's job, however, as Big Blue's starting tight end.

So far, Donnell has gotten open consistently enough to garner more targets (23) than any other Giants pass-catcher in 2014.

After a slow start, New York's running game was much improved in Week 3, and so was Donnell's performance as an in-line blocker.

Despite the early success, it's in the more intricate aspects of the game—such as route running and run-blocking—that the second-year tight end can afford to improve most.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Still, we're going to see Donnell make inexperienced mistakes, like the fumble he lost deep in Texans territory in Week 3, until he's fully acclimated in the Giants offense. As long as these mistakes don't cost New York games, Donnell's contributions from the tight end position will continue to be an asset rather than a liability.

With Donnell developing, we're still seeing elements of that tight-end-by-committee approach Coughlin originally insinuated.

Backup Daniel Fells has seen a lot of snaps, with two of his four catches yielding six points. There's even talk of Adrien Robinson getting into the mix soon.

However, if Donnell continues the growth he has displayed over the first three games of the 2014 season, the Giants may have found their tight end of the future.

Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants for Bleacher Report.