Theo Johnson – © USA TODAY Sports

FINAL DAY OF 2024 NFL DRAFT; GIANTS SELECT THREE MORE PLAYERS…
On the third and final day of the 2024 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected:

• 4th Round: TE Theo Johnson, 6’6”, 259lbs, 4.57, Penn State University
• 5th Round: RB Tyrone Tracy, Jr., 5’11”, 209lbs, 4.48, Purdue University
• 6th Round: LB Darius Muasau, 6’0”, 225lbs, 4.7, UCLA

Sy’56’s Scouting Report on TE Theo Johnson: Three-year starter. All-Big Ten in 2023. Johnson has the prototype body merged with soft hands and quick feet to pose as a potential starting tight end in the league. He has shown flashes of being a matchup nightmare for both linebackers and defensive backs. The catch radius and sheer weight he can play should help with some of the short area movement issues he shows as a route runner and ball carrier to have at least a quality backup outlook. The athletic upside he possesses leaves the door open to a bigger role. He brings a rare blend of size and speed to the table that coaches will want a crack at developing. Johnson needs to clean up some of the fine points of the position to reach his ceiling, but the floor with him is high to feel safe about him providing solid rotational play, at least.

*I’ll say this right now. Johnson has the ceiling to be the top tight end in this class (including Bowers). That fact alone leads me to believe he should be graded a bit higher. But the number is the number. He has several flashes on tape combined with a historic blend of size, explosion, and speed. At this time, however, he is a better athlete than he is a football player. I felt that way after watching tape and when I saw him in person at the Senior Bowl. It looks like he is still learning his body and simply lacks some important coordination and football reaction speed. Worth the gamble because he could change an offense. Maybe a similar trajectory we have seen with Cole Kmet with the Bears.

Sy’56’s Scouting Report on RB Tyrone Tracy, Jr.: Sixth-year senior. Four-year starter that spent four seasons at Iowa before his final two at Purdue. Tracy will turn 25 years old as a rookie but in terms of running back age, he is younger than most. He played wide receiver from 2018-2022 before moving into the backfield full time in his final year. In that one season, Tracy finished fourth in the country in yards after contact per attempt in the country among backs with over 100 carries. His career was sputtering, as his best season as a receiver came in 2019. The smooth position move opened a door, one that is searching for pass game weapons out of the backfield. Tracy is not a dynamic or explosive athlete, but he simply knows what to do with the ball in his hands and it shows up as a returner as well. His progression will be an interesting one to follow, one with a high ceiling.

*Tracy is one of the more interesting prospects in the entire draft. He runs like he doesn’t always know what he’s doing but that is part of the intrigue. What happens to him if it does click? He is already productive, and he is already a top-shelf pass catcher the position. He already adds return value. Something about him simply makes sense for a chance on day three because Singletary could easily be elsewhere before the end of 2024, let alone pre-2025. And I view that as the season this team can be ready to compete.

Sy’56’s Scouting Report on LB Darius Muasau: Fifth-year senior, four-year starter. Spent three seasons at Hawaii where he was first team All-Mountain West two times. Transferred to UCLA in 2022 where he was All-Pac 12 in both 2023 and 2022. Muasau is a productive run defender who can lead a defense from the middle. He is an experienced shot caller who understands blocking schemes a step or two ahead, which helps him get on the right side of blockers as he attacks downhill. Muasau does not have the size or athletic tool set to factor against the pass, whether it be as a pass rusher or cover man. His usage at the next level will be limited to early down duty and special teams. The toughness, dependability, and football IQ can keep him on a roster as a quality, dependable backup and role player.

*Muasau is a guy who will be drafted late for special teams alone. This is the kind of guy who teams look for toward the back end to beef up their presence on kickoff/punt cover units. As a middle linebacker, Muasau is not athletic enough to check all of the boxes but he is a dependable player between the tackles. His range is limited, but his dependable and consistent interior run defense can provide something for a team that needs help there.

Media Q&A with General Manager Joe Schoen and Head Coach Brian Daboll (Video):

JOE SCHOEN: It’s been a long process to get to this point. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my leadership group, Brandon Brown, Tim McDonnell, Dennis Hickey, Chris Rossetti, Ryan Cowden, along with all the coaches, there’s a lot of hard work that goes into this. They are sent out to Pro Days and Zooms with the prospects, and Dabs is nice enough to give them a week off in late March.

And unfortunately sometimes there’s Pro Days during that time when these coaches have to give up vacation with their family to go visit with these draft prospects and help us in our process to make the decisions and draft these kids.

So hats off to the personnel staff, the coaching staff, everybody in this building as far as process. There’s a lot that goes into it, and you know, I like where we ended up this weekend and now that it’s all said and done, we still have free agency and we are out there working on that now. I feel like we’re in a good spot after the Draft.

Q. Your roster isn’t finalized, but how do you feel as the roster stands?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I think where we are right now, coming into the off-season, between what we did in free agency, the Draft today, the trade for Brian Burns. Again, we always have room to grow and always have room to improve. I say it all the time, we don’t play until September, so there’s still time between now and September where we can acquire players, the final cutdown, whatever it may be.

I like the group that we have right now. Excited to get the rookies in here, assimilate them into our culture, get on the grass, practice and then as we observe and evaluate the players as we’re going through it, if we still have needs, there will probably be some vets that will be released over the next couple weeks, as well. There’s always going to be a time and a place where you can add some more players. We’ll see where we are now, and as we go through the competition period and training camp, if there are other areas we need to fill, we’ll try to do that.

Q. Was tight end a priority because you don’t know what’s going to happen with Darren?

JOE SCHOEN: We had to take that into account for sure. But you know, Theo was the top player on our board. I’m trying to think, if there were any of these guys that we took that weren’t the top player on the board at the time…last night we left, he was sticking out for us. You always think when you come in the next morning, he’s going to go sooner and may not be there and we’re excited to get Theo.

Q. You didn’t take a quarterback in this draft. You tried to move up, or at least had conversations about moving up for a quarterback in this draft. Where do you consider yourself at the quarterback position now for this year and for the future?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, for me, I said it in January after the season. Our expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock to be his backup and Tommy is a backup, so that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season. Daniel is still under contract for three more years. As it sits today, that’s where we are.

Q. While you were doing all that work and going to places like Washington and LSU and Carolina, was the design during that time to try to make sure you were coming out of this draft with a young developmental quarterback, or did you view it as due diligence that wasn’t necessarily going to come to fruition?

JOE SCHOEN: You know, I understand your question. If you look at the Pro Days we went to, there’s quality and quantity. You look at LSU, there’s a lot of good players at other positions we did take, no different than Washington. Washington won a lot of games and went to the National Championship, so they had a lot of players.

Q. I guess I should throw in the Drake Maye and JJ, the private workouts —

JOE SCHOEN: What’s the question in regard to the private workouts?

Q. All the work you did, I should have mentioned those.

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I could name 15 other players we did private workouts at other positions. Again, we are going to continue to do our due diligence. You get six, seven swings, you want to make sure you know as much as you can about each prospect.

And I think being around these kids on their campus, boots on the ground, dinner, setting up Pro Days, whatever it may be, I think you can find out a lot about prospects. It’s not just quarterbacks we did private workouts with. We are always going to do our due diligence across the board.

Q. Taking the due diligence on quarterbacks, basically where you’re picking, people assumed you were looking to move on from Daniel. Did do you like recommit to him?

JOE SCHOEN: I’ve said it before, it’s not just right now. I mean, Dabs and I went through this in 2017 and we have intimate knowledge of that class, whether it was Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Mason Rudolph, you can go through it. We know those guys. We have a very good feel. Last year’s draft, we spent time with C.J. Stroud, we spent time with Will Levis. Now we know what these kids are about if they ever become free agents or they are on the trade market.

I think it’s a different position when you are evaluating. You can watch all the film you want, but there’s a reason at that position guys succeed and they fail and it’s not just because of the tape. The three years we’ve been here, we have done a lot of work on the quarterbacks. Maybe it hasn’t been as public or maybe it hasn’t been as well covered but we’ll always do that because of the importance of the position and what goes into it.

You can’t just throw the tape on and say, ‘OK, I’ll sign that guy.’ There’s a personal makeup, there is a way you carry yourself; leadership, processing information. It’s not easy. This guy calls a play in some of these meetings and says regurgitate it to me and then you have to go call out the Mike and then you’ve got to change the play and you’ve got to shift this guy and oh, by the way, you have to snap the ball and figure out where you’re throwing it to. That’s not easy.

So I think spending time with this position is very, very important, whether it’s today or down the road or in the future.

Q. Have you spoken directly to Daniel to maybe share with him some of what Joe was saying or to ask him if he has a question? Have you done anything out of the norm because of this situation with Daniel?

BRIAN DABOLL: I talk to the entire team, but I meet with the quarterbacks daily. I spend a lot of time with them every day.

So you know, you’re just transparent with the entire team about the whole draft process. You’re trying to improve your team. You know, the last meeting we had, I showed a picture up here of all of our area scouts, Joe, his leadership group that he mentioned, and you know, part of their role is to help improve our football team by creating competition.

And then there’s a human element, too. If you’re sitting in there and you’re in the receiver room and we draft Malik Nabers, there’s a human element to that, too. So I think you have to be transparent. There’s a draft every year. There’s free agency every year. We start out the meeting by any new players that are here that weren’t here last year, stand up, and any guys that were drafted by Joe and the staff, stand up. It’s different every year. The teams are different. It’s constructed different.

But I think that opens lines of communication whether it’s D.J., whether it’s with Tommy, whether it’s with the receivers, the D-Linemen and the linebackers, running backs. I encourage all of our coaches to do that because I think that’s important to be transparent, whether it’s, again, free agency, draft. There’s constant turnover. So the communication lines are definitely very important.

Q. The first night, we were talking about Nabors, the idea was presented to you, the idea that you were giving Daniel a weapon, seemed like — a weapon for the offense. Is there a sense where you’re now trying to build what you want from your offense and what you want from your defense, and it’s not necessarily a specific player but it’s also kind of what you believe now, want to have, as far as what you’re going to do offensively?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I think — generators.

Q. Generators?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, people that can do stuff with the ball in their hands. Whether that’s take a jet sweep and go 30 yards or whether that’s running a double move and catch it 50 yards down the field to help you score points. You know, just to go back to Malik, I feel that he is that.

Now, he’s got a lot of work to do. There’s a big playbook to learn. You’ve got to try to slow it down for these young players when they get in. But anyone that can touch the ball — and linemen can be generators, too, in a different way, by keeping the pocket clean, by getting movement at the line of scrimmage.

So I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily — you’ve got to wait to see what you have and then try to move pieces around and see where — Theo, where he fits it in, where Malik fits in, there are different positions to play. There’s five eligible players on every play and you try to use those guys the best you can. But they have to come in here and prove it and earn the right to play.

Q. Where does Tyrone Tracy in that kind of mold? He’s going to be 25.

BRIAN DABOLL: Some of these guys are older, too, relative to what people have been through the past few years, I would say, COVID and all those other things. Some guys are a little bit older. He’s a former receiver. In terms of yards per carry, he’s been pretty good. He’s an athlete who has played receiver and then played running back and has some good production. We’ll throw him in the mix. Whether that’s in the kickoff return game or whether that’s at running back or the receiving part of it, we’ve got to do a good job of getting him in here and seeing where he’s at and then trying to fit him into the things that he can do well.

Q. Joe, how do you feel, this is sort of like the last major portion of the off-season. Usually there’s major additions, I assume for the most part, you probably don’t have much more to add. You put resources into the offensive line in free agency, you added Malik, you added Theo. How do you feel about the offense now?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, I think, what Dabs said it earlier. Once we get on the field and see how the pieces work together, we’ll have a better feel. Dabs is one of the better ones I’ve been around. It’s not his system, like we are going to run this — a square peg in a round hole. We are going to go out there and see what routes these guys can run well, what they can do. There are some new pieces. What do they do best and how can we accentuate that. How can we get them in positions where they can perform the best.

I like some of the pieces we have. I like some of the upgrades. Again, you can throw Brian Burns in the draft, as well, that pick 39, to bring on a 25-year-old, two-time Pro Bowler as a pass rusher as part of this draft class. I like some of the moves that we made in the off-season. We still have work to do and I just think it’s year three and we are just going to continue to build the roster and the team. I think where we are with some of the contract status, like I talked about last night; that you can keep a core group together over a two- to three-year window, and you have another off-season and another draft, and then you look up and there’s some really good pieces on the table.

Q. Are you guys going to add a quarterback as an undrafted free agent?

BRIAN DABOLL: We’ll have for rookie camp here in two weeks time, we’ll have a number of players come in. You need to bring in a quarterback to operate some seven on seven and things that you want to do. We’ll bring someone in, whether that’s tryout or whatever it may be and we’ll go from there.

Q. Could you do me one quickie on the kid from UCLA, what did you see from him?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, he’s a good football player. He was actually with Ghoby (Michael Ghobrial), our special teams coach, they crossed paths at Hawaii. 440 career tackles, hasn’t missed a game, smart, tough, dependable, instinctive. Our special teams coach, he’s coached him, has a vision for him on special teams. He was at the East-West, and I would say — Tyrone Tracy was, too. Having our coaches and Shea at the Senior Bowl with Theo. I think there’s a little bit of competitive advantage in terms of — again, going back to Dabs’ staff and their willingness to sacrifice their time to help us in this process, and I would say all three of those guys that we took today, our coaches had intimate knowledge of those guys from the all-star games.

So we are excited about Darius. He’s a good football player. He’s a good football player.

Media Q&A with Theo Johnson:

Q. Congratulations.

THEO JOHNSON: Thank you.

Q. Just curious, what the process was like, you were probably thinking maybe you got picked last night. What’s it been like the last 24 hours for you?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, you know, was hoping for day two and just the way the Draft shook out this year — wasn’t in the cards for me but I think I got picked exactly when I was supposed to and exactly where I was supposed to.

Q. You obviously visited here. Did you have any indication that this could be one of the more likely landing spots?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, you know, since the beginning of this process, you know, the Giants were very clear with their interest in me. I worked closely with Shea Tierney at the Senior Bowl and feel like we got a really good feel for each other.

Went to school and worked with Christian Daboll, Brian Daboll’s son, when he was at Penn State. So pretty early on, they showed a lot of interest and it was clear that this was definitely a potential landing spot for me.

Q. What was your visit like? Did you come on the local day or did you come on a separate visit?

THEO JOHNSON: I actually didn’t visit the Giants.

Q. How would you describe your game?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, I’d describe my game as gritty, explosive and powerful. I think that I can get dirty in the trenches but also be a real factor in the pass game.

Q. It’s easy just to look up stats on a player and see catches, yards, touchdowns, things like that. Players play in all kinds of different systems and better offenses and better passing games. What kind of a threat do you think you are as a pass catcher and a receiver?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, I give defenses a real problem because I have the speed and also the sheer size and power. When you have both of those as a tight end it makes it really hard to defend because I can get up in your body and create separation or use my speed or use both. I think that’s going to give a lot of people challenges when it comes to defending me.

Q. You mentioned your time with Shea down at the Senior Bowl, I assume it was, right. What’s that week like when you’re spending as much time with coaches and do you almost develop an affinity and see their relationship with you as you’re going through the whole process?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, it’s a really cool experience. It’s nothing like anything else in this football aspect, all the way from high school and camps and all that stuff. It’s super different. You’ve got coaches from all over the league coming together for a week with kids all over the country, and then making a team in a five-day period to play a game.

So that week, you get a real good feel for coaches and their style of coaching and how they do things. I think me and Shea had a lot of fun together with just what he was dialing up, and the feel he got for me as a player, and obviously I was kind of rooting for the Giants since then because I had a really good feel for him and how he’s doing things.

Q. Looking at the Giants roster, what did they tell you about how you might fit in or where do you think you can make a difference here?

THEO JOHNSON: Haven’t had any specific discussions about the roster and where that might lie.

What I do know is that I’m going to come in and I’m going to work from day one, and whatever role I earn will be one that I earned, and I’m going to do my very best to show everybody in the building that I deserve to be taken seriously and I’m going to work for every single thing that shows up on tape.

Q. Your size and speed and just the scouting report, you seem similar in some ways to Darren Waller. Is that a guy you’ve watched and do you think you see similarities there?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, I’ve definitely watched Darren Waller. I have a lot of respect for his game. You know, he’s someone that has really established himself in the league, and I’m really looking forward to being in the same room as him and just hearing his wisdom from what he’s been through, not only in his career and his life but I’m really looking forward to being his teammate.

Q. Any disappointment Saquon isn’t still here?

THEO JOHNSON: It’s funny, he actually just texted me and congratulated me. Would have been really cool to play with him if he was still around but we’ll see how things shake out in the future but I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Q. Any other tight ends that you’ve modeled your game after or at least try to take some things from them watching them play?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, growing up, I watched a lot of Tony G (Gonzalez). People would always tell me that I reminded them of Tony G when they watched me play, so I watched him. And then more recently, I watch a ton of George Kittle. I have a ton of respect for the way he approaches the game as a tight end. I think he’s one of the last of the true tight ends that can do everything you need, can block a head-up six on power and make the tough catch on third and fourth down. I have a lot of respect for those guys’ game.

Q. Do you think you can be one of those players? Do you think you can be a George Kittle for the Giants?

THEO JOHNSON: I think I’m definitely capable of being a tight end that you can’t take off the field with all the attributes that I have and I’m going to work for that. I know I have work to do and I’m going to do the work it’s going to take to be a George Kittle and be a guy that you just don’t want to take off the field because I can do every single thing you’re asking your tight end to do.

Q. You mentioned two guys that are really good blockers and you said you wanted to show that you’re a tight end that can be on the field at all times. Where would you say you are in the blocking progression at this point?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, I think looking back from freshman year when I came in, I played receiver in high school, I can count on two hands the amount of times I put my hand in the dirt in high school.

So I’ve only been blocking for four years, and I think just looking at my growth from freshman year to now, it’s not even comparable to where I’m at. And the exciting thing for me is there’s still so much more growth to be had there, and I think when it’s all said and done, I’m going to be a very dominant blocker. I have room to improve and I think that’s somewhere that every tight end will tell you that they have room to prove in the blocking game but I definitely think that’s an area that with more work and attention to detail, I can be very dominant.

Q. Whenever you mention the idea of, was it going to be last night, was it going to be today, how did you approach it? I know some guys are hesitant to have parties, have people together because you just don’t know. What has your last 12 hours been like? Did you get people together? Was it disappointing last night? How did you approach it?

THEO JOHNSON: Yeah, I had people at the house last night. Had a little party. All people super close to me. People that have had a hand in my process. So it was — it didn’t go the way that I planned it to go or thought it was going to be but everybody understood and knew that it just part of God’s plan for me going today and I think me going today just tells me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and I went exactly when I was supposed to.

Q. Did you invite them back today?

THEO JOHNSON: I had a few people come back. A lot of people had flights or things that they had to do today, so they couldn’t make it back. But the people that were still around came back.

Media Q&A with Darius Muasau:

Q. Which coach hit you up? We know you have a relationship with Ghobi (Special Teams Coordinator Michael Ghobrial).

DARIUS MUASAU: Yeah, Ghobi is my guy. I was at the University of Hawai’i with him. He was my special teams coordinator. I was on the phone with him just chopping it up and he told me that I was getting drafted. Man, I was just very excited and just happy at the moment.

Q. So I assume besides being a linebacker, you play special teams?

DARIUS MUASAU: Yes, I have to.

Q. Did you play special teams all four years or just the two years in Hawai’i or how did that break down for you?

DARIUS MUASAU: I started playing special teams a lot during my freshman year at the University of Hawai’i. As my playing time on the defense started rising, my playing time with special teams kind of dwindled. I did play special teams all three years at the University of Hawai’i.

Q. What was your contact with the Giants during the pre-draft process?

DARIUS MUASAU: It was very limited. I mostly talked with Coach Ghobi and some scouts at the time. I also had a bunch of coaches over there at the Shrine Bowl who were in contact with me and I was being coached up by them over there at the Bowl game and it was really unexpected for me. I did not expect it until I got that phone call, and then it really just hit me.

Q. What do you know about New York and the Giants? Obviously, you’re a West Coast guy.

DARIUS MUASAU: Nothing much but I’m looking forward to adapting to the culture everything and about it. I’m going to be a New York guy from here on out (laughter).

Q. How would you describe if someone asked you to give me a scouting report on yourself, we read everything, but what do you think you bring to the table?

DARIUS MUASAU: One thing that I pride myself on is being the most instinctive and smartest player on the field every time I step on the field. I love to watch film. That’s what I do. I spend most of my days in the film room and also on the field but mostly in the film room breaking down film, knowing tendencies, and little details of the offense and I feel that’s what I do best. That’s why I’m headed to New York, and I’m just ready to showcase my abilities there.

Q. As a linebacker, are you inside, outside, or what?

DARIUS MUASAU: I’ll play anything the coaches want me to. But I feel the most comfortable being the green dot of the team, being able to distribute the calls to the team, and making sure everyone is set, and being the leader out there.

Q. You mentioned just the emotions and the nerves for today. What were your expectations? How do you — how did you set out to kind of balance everything, and what did you expect about who may call you or where it may happen?

DARIUS MUASAU: Honestly, I did not know what to expect coming into this day. I had no idea when I was going to go or if my name was even going to be called in the first place. Just looking forward to any opportunity coming my way, and I know once I got that phone call, I know the first thing that came to my mind is I’ve got to make the most of this opportunity. Because not too many people are given this opportunity like me. I know there are a lot of other guys that they could have given the chance to, but they chose me over them. They see something in me, and I want to prove them right.

Q. Ghobi is new to us, you know him a heck of a lot more than we do. How would you describe him as a coach and what are the Giants getting in him as a coach as a special teams coordinator?

DARIUS MUASAU: High-energy. Very intellectual football-minded coach. He’s great on the special teams side of football. He knows the insides and outs, but also the offensive and defensive side. He specializes in the special teams. When I was playing for him at the University of Hawaii, man, I enjoyed every single time I got on the field for special teams because he just made everything so fun, and because of the way he was able to detail everything down to the minute details, and just made it fun out there every time I would step off on kickoff can kickoff return. Everything was a blast out there.

Q. What does it mean to reunite with him at the pro level and get to work with him at this stage of your career?

DARIUS MUASAU: It’s a great feeling, man. He was in touch, actually, throughout this whole process, kind of being my mentor through things. Giving me little tips and pointers here and there. How to relieve the stress and just see things through. Man, I was really grateful for him to be by my side throughout this whole process, and it’s crazy that I’m actually going to be on the same team as him, you know, come these next few weeks, and I’m ready for that.

Q. Just to clarify real quick: Did he call you and you were talking and that’s when he broke the news that the Giants were drafting you, or did you speak to somebody else first and then he got on the line?

DARIUS MUASAU: I spoke with pretty much all the coaches at the time. Coach Ghobi didn’t call me first.

SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE WITH TYLER NUBIN…
Safety Tyler Nubin, who the Giants drafted on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, held a press conference at the team’s facility on Saturday. The transcript and video are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube, respectively.

SATURDAY PRESS CONFERENCE WITH ANDRU PHILLIPS…
Cornerback Andru Phillips, who the Giants drafted on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, held a press conference at the team’s facility on Saturday. The transcript and video are available in The Corner Forum and on YouTube, respectively.