Third-year New York Giants TE Larry Donnell flashed exciting potential through the first two weeks, earning a spot on many fantasy football “Sleeper” lists. Last night in Washington, he solidified himself as much more than that, with a dominant three touchdown performance. Now sitting at 25 receptions on 31 targets for 236 yards and 4 TD’s, Donnell has been the offensive surprise of 2014 in the NFL. This has piqued the curiosity in many, wondering where Donnell ever came from.
The 6’6, 265lb Larry Donnell is a product of Grambling State University, where he actually began as a Quarterback. Recognizing his unmatched size, however, he was moved to Tight End early in his college career, but he didn’t dominate. In fact, Donnell has never even come close to this level of production.
In his four full seasons at Grambling State, Donnell caught 38 balls for 432 yards. Total. Of course, he did not receive an invite to the scouting combine in 2o12. His size was appealing, yes, but his lack of production and inability to block left him with little to no buzz. He would run a 4.91 40-yard dash in his Pro Day, which would place him 21st out of 23 eligible TE’s that ran in this past Spring’s draft combine.
The New York Giants, as we know now, still wanted to take a chance. They would stash him on their Practice Squad throughout the entirety of 2012, before signing him to the 53-man roster last year. In limited playing time in 2013, Donnell caught 3 passes for 31 yards. Again, what makes Donnell’s performance so incredible this season is that there was nothing to suggest it was coming.
This past offseason birthed opportunity, though. The Giants chose not to select a TE in the draft despite their glaring need, which opened up a competition between Adrien Robinson, Daniel Fells, Kellen Davis, and Xavier Grimble. Fans were shocked when Donnell’s name topped the initial Depth Chart in the summer, but something had clicked as a part of Ben McAdoo’s new offence.
This new offence, which finally showed it’s potential last night, presents a much greater opportunity for Tight Ends to produce, especially in the red zone. Eli Manning has fallen in love with Donnell as an option for quick-hit passes and dump-offs. Not only is this offence built to include these passes, but a questionable O-Line ahead of Manning will force even more balls to Donnell when pressure comes knocking.
Is Larry Donnell going to continue this pace and emerge as a top TE in this league, and a stud TE1 in fantasy football? No. He will soon begin to experience some inconsistencies, but not for the reasons you might think.
A young player’s greatest challenge is not always to play at a consistently high level themselves, but to adjust quickly enough to how the defence plays them in the wake of their success. Over the coming weeks, opposing Defensive Co-ordinators will have their sights set on Donnell, especially around the red zone. This will open up opportunities for Victor Cruz or Rueben Randle.
Once on of those receivers catches fire, then they will draw the coverage and Donnell will once again have a chance to shine. Thus presents the cyclical nature that I expect from Donnell. This will be a series of ups and downs as he learns to effectively attack a defence that has planned specifically for him. As a player has not been the focus of a defensive strategy since High School, at best, this could be difficult.
Donnell will receive too many targets to dip too lowly, however, and should continue to perform as a mid-level Tight End. His fantasy football outlook will continue to be that of a TD-dependent starter. If he does not hit the end zone, he will struggle to put up sufficient yardage to help a fantasy team, but the potential is undeniably tempting. He should hit universal ownership this week.
The Giants have looked dominant for 60 short minutes, and the excitement has built to a point that is not realistic. Eli Manning looked like a Hall of Famer on Thursday Night, which is causing people to immediately forget how he has looked over his past 20 starts. The Giants are showing great promise, but this is still a team with loads of question marks. The question mark at Tight End, however, has been replaced with an exclamation.
The Backup Punter 