Giants To Use Travis Beckum In Dallas Clark Role

Nearly a month after Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride told ESPNNewYork that Giants tight end Travis Beckum has a long way to go until he reaches his full potential , tight end coach Mike Pope told Inside Football that he plans to use Beckum in a "Dallas Clark" role .

"Travis is going to be more of a space guy so if he and Kevin are in there simultaneously, he’s going to have to be enough of a blocker so that Kevin just doesn’t leave the point of attack all the time, and people figure, ‘Oh this is where they’re going to run.’ “If that happens, that enables us to use Beckum more like the Colts have used Dallas Clark, and we can get more production from the passing game and not just five-, six-, or seven-yard gains."

Pope told Inside Football that injuries forced the Giants to use Kevin Boss as a blocker more in 2009. With a healthier offense in 2010, expect Boss to get some more receiving yards than he did in 2009.

Here is what Gilbride had to say about Beckum in June:

“He has got a long way to go in terms of utilizing that athleticism and doing things right and doing it in a consistent way,” Gilbride said. “We are not asking him to be a point-of-attack prototypical tight end. That is not his forte. But when we put him out in space, he has some special abilities. But you still have to block out there and run the routes the right way and still get open. He has made some spectacular catches but he is not necessarily doing the things that you have to do to get open on a consistent basis.”

It seems like Beckum will be strictly a player used on passing downs until he can develop some blocking ability. Until then expect Bear Pascoe to see more time on the field.