Darren Waller caught 107 passes just three years ago, and if the game plan calls for him to catch the ball from an unleashed Downfield Daniel Jones, Waller doesn’t hesitate when you ask him if he believes the best is yet to come as a New York Giant.
“I believe so. I always believe my best days are ahead of me. I still believe I have a lot left in the tank. And as long as I’m out there on the field and I’m available, I believe that great things are gonna happen,” Waller told The Post as minicamp ended.
Waller caught five more passes than Travis Kelce did in 2020, and as the Giants look to be considerably better than 26th in explosive pass plays, it is not out of the realm of possibility, as long as he can stay on the field, that Waller can be Jones’ Kelce.
“I’ve performed at a high level. … I was neck-and-neck with him statistically,” Waller said. “The plans for this team, whatever they ask me to do, if it’s take on that kind of a burden, take on that large number of targets, I believe I can produce. Whatever the number is as far as opportunity, I try to be as efficient as possible.”
Giants tight ends coach Andy Bischoff was with the Ravens when they drafted Waller in the sixth round in 2015. I asked him if Waller can be for Jones what Kelce has been for Patrick Mahomes.
“Well, Waller’s gonna be Waller,” Bischoff told The Post. “But he certainly is a guy that you can feature, and that’s what they’ve chose to do in Kansas City is feature the guy, and he’s a guy who can be one of the pieces here that really helps our quarterback have success.”
Waller, prior to the past two seasons as a Raider when an assortment of injuries limited him to 20 games, recalled the daily mindset that enabled him to feel as though he was in a veritable zone as a receiving threat.
“Every single rep I get out there, I’m trying to make the most of it to where a game comes, and it’s like you’re so dialed into the coverages, you’re so dialed into what the quarterback has going on, you’re so dialed into adjustments you need to make, you just flow, and go out there let your body do what it does and trust yourself,” he said. “It turned into just getting into a flow state. And it allows big things to happen, the ball keeps coming my way, I believe that I’m gonna make things happen, and over time, it just turned into 107 catches.”
Bischoff offered rave reviews inside the Giants building before they traded a third-round pick for Waller.
“Cartwheels all the way that he’s here,” Bischoff said.
This is why:
“In this league, there’s not 10 of those guys in this league,” Bischoff said. “You could argue there’s five. And to get one with these kind of special qualities and traits — first of all as a person, as a teammate, as a professional, but then the things that he brings to the field — he’s in that group of rare guys.”
Waller was 6-foot-6, 225 pounds coming out of Georgia Tech, and the Ravens switched him from receiver to tight end following the 2016 season.
“This is a guy who studies Julio Jones and A.J. Green,” Bischoff said. “He’s a guy who studies receivers before tight ends. Now, he’s also a guy who takes great pride in being a three-way tight end. His run-game tape is not embarrassing. … I mean, he’s a twisted piece of metal and he can do anything. It’s just a matter of how we choose to use him respectfully. Do you want the guy to flash across the line of scrimmage and saw a guy in half? No. We just want to be smart about what kind of collisions are necessary for him. Do we want him in the route more than protection? Heck yeah. When Wink [Martindale, defensive coordinator] is throwing Cover Zero at us in camp, he’s gonna have to block a little bit. … This is a big human being, and so very confident in what he can give us there.”
When the Raiders poached Waller off the Ravens’ practice squad in November 2018?
“I was devastated,” Bischoff said. “He was a special, special guy to lose.”
A special, special guy whose addiction demons have been well-chronicled and thankfully are behind him. Bischoff mentioned how former NFL tight end and Brian Daboll favorite Lee Smith offered advice to second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger and all the other sponges in the room when he paid a visit to the facility.
“Lee said it the best. He said, ‘Guys, everybody in this room should be following this guy Waller wherever he goes,’ ” Bischoff said. “He goes to the bathroom, you should follow him. He goes to the cafeteria, you should follow him. Follow him to the hot tub. Ask him how he’s running the routes.”
Bellinger has been following.
“He’s a unicorn of a player,” Bellinger said.
Waller and his fellow TEs — and honorary TE Darius Slayton — enjoyed dinner together this week at Porter House Bar and Grill by Central Park.
“It was fun, man,” Waller said. “It’s just a lot about relationships, hanging out with guys, getting to know ’em, getting ’em to see like, hey, we’re all on the same page here, we’re all in a room working towards a common goal,” Waller said.
Waller and Jones bonded immediately.
“We make it a priority to get to know each other more and know like, hey, like we got business here, but at the same time, we want to enjoy each other’s company,” Waller said, “and I feel like everybody on this team feels the same way, and that’s why it’s so cool to be here.”
Jones completed 67.2 percent of deep passes last season, tied for fifth.
“They’re really putting the emphasis on explosive plays,” Waller said. “It’s only gonna make our team better, only gonna make our offense better, only gonna give our defense time to rest and be fresher.”
Especially if the best is yet come.
