PFF says TE Daniel Bellinger landed in ideal situation
A lot of the praise around the Giants’ draft haul has revolved around Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal.
However, the 11-person draft class has also gotten some recognition for picks beyond the first round.
Michael Renner, Pro Football Focus’ lead draft analyst, took a look at the 2022 draft prospects at every position to see which ones went to ideal situations. As it states in the introduction, “Whether it’s via scheme, coaching or path to the football field, some destinations are built to fully maximize the skill sets of draft picks better than others.”
For the tight end position, Renner chose Giants’ fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger as the prospect who landed in the best situation heading into the 2022 season.
“Brian Daboll literally just took a mid-round athletic tight end with minimal collegiate production and turned him into a prolific pass-catcher for the Buffalo Bills,” writes Renner. “There’s a good chance Daboll can work the same magic with Bellinger as he did with Dawson Knox, although Bellinger saw only 101 targets in his three seasons as a starter for San Diego State.”
Bellinger played in 11 games for San Diego State this past year, finishing with 31 receptions for 357 yards and two touchdowns. The receptions and yards both set new career-highs for the tight end, who saw his usage increase each year with the Aztecs.
Of his 43 targets in 2021, Bellinger did not drop a single pass. In fact, the 6-foot-5 tight end had a mere 4.2 percent drop rate throughout his entire time at San Diego State, the best mark at the tight end position in the draft.
As it states in the analytics site’s 2022 NFL Draft Guide:
“Bellinger has been starting ever since his sophomore season for the Aztecs. He’s steadily been featured more and more in the San Diego State offense every single year but never quite as a downfield weapon. Of his 31 receptions this past season, only four came 10-plus yards down the field. It really is a…