TE Brandon Myers, who signed with the Giants last Sunday, played the entire 2012 season with a sprained shoulder.
"Obviously, (I) had to take a few shots, but it wasn’t only about me, it was about trying to help the Raiders win," Myers said in a phone interview this week. "And that’s what I tried to do."
Topic No. 1: blocking, which Myers said he and TE coach Mike Pope "talked a lot about." Myers admits that part of his game suffered after he sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder in training camp last year, resulting in him managing the injury all season. As he explains, "It’s never fun to go out there and try to block a 300-pound guy with basically one arm."
After rest and rehab in Southern California (no surgery), Myers said he’ll be back to full strength by the time the Giants start their offseason program April 15.
"Obviously, my blocking wasn’t up to par. That’s not an excuse by any means," Myers said. "But we kind of went over some things, (Pope’s) technique that he could teach me to help me out, so I think it will be a good fit."
Add Myers to the long list of semi-reliable TEs that will be available in the middle or late rounds. He was 9th in standard formats (6th in PPR) in 2012 and is heading to a good situation in New York. In the last five seasons, the top Giants tight end has averaged 2.7-36-.33, which isn't bad considering that we're talking about Kevin Boss (2008-2010), Jake Ballard (2011) and Martellus Bennett (2012). That works out to 5.6 fantasy PPG, which would have equated to #14 TE numbers in 2012. Myers is a better receiver than any of those players and his weakness (only 4 TD catches in 2012) should be offset by Eli Manning's propensity to throw to his tight end in the redzone. Giants TEs have averaged 5.0 TDs per season, so Myers should be able to build on that given his skill set. He looks like an upside TE2 in standard formats and a low-end TE1 in PPR formats.
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