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TE Jake Ballard (Super Bowl Champion)

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New York Giant Jake Ballard hands a tshirt to Rohena Fearon, 13, after she answered a trivia question correctly at Dolan Middle School in Stamford CT on Tuesday, September 13, 2011. Photo: Shelley Cryan / Shelley Cryan freelance; Stamford Advocate freelance
Ballard stressed the importance of playing more than one sport to become an all-around athlete.

"If you want to be the best you can be, you've got to play a variety of sports," he said, mentioning that he and the two other Giants had participated in baseball, basketball and other athletics in addition to football when they were growing up.
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Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article...nts-at-Dolan-Middle-2169463.php#ixzz1XwDOKjY5
 
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One of the more overlooked gems of the Giants? resilient start remains the emergence of tight end Jake Ballard as a legitimate receiving option. The former undrafted free agent from Ohio State was considered little more than a glorified offensive lineman because of his size (6-6, 275 pounds) and lumbering style, but Ballard continues to show impressively soft, reliable hands. The two big catches he had last week against the Cardinals, including Ballard?s first career TD, told opponents that Eli Manning isn?t afraid to throw to him and that they will now have to account for Ballard in the passing game. Ballard has earned Manning?s trust by catching seven of the first nine passes thrown to him and was a great find by Jerry Reese and his staff, considering Ballard had just 34 receptions in 25 career games in college. Ballard?s emergence also has allowed the Giants to shrug off Travis Beckum?s constant hamstring issues and take a lot of the sting out of Kevin Boss? departure.
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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/nflbl...op_ellis_YVxqvj6g47VNYW90ajwxLN#ixzz1a0HpQBYr
 
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Buckeye Maniac;2006622; said:
It's comments like that that lead me to believe that some of those idiots don't even watch tape of players from college.
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Like this catch at the 0:20 mark?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueq5ZLYQzlM"]Ohio State Vs. Michigan State Football 2007 - YouTube[/ame]

It was this catch that had me start to take note of Ballard. How in the world he, not only caught the ball, but kept his balance at 6-6 270 to score the touchdown is beyond me.

He may not rack up the YAC yards, but he's probably a more reliable target for the possession reception than a lot of other TEs in the league. With his size if he'd have been at a college that threw to the TE consistently scouts would've been drooling over a 6-6 270 TE who can block AND catch.

I'm thrilled he went to Ohio State and to see him go from undrafted to starting TE in the NFL!
 
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Giants tight end Jake Ballard emerges as passing-game weapon with big day against Seahawks
Published: Sunday, October 09, 201
By Zach Berman/The Star-Ledger

10128679-large.jpg
Aristide Economopoulos/The Star-LedgerGiants tight end Jake Ballard, center, bulls through Seahawks defenders Kam Chancellor, left, and David Hawthorne and into the end zone during the first quarter this afternoon.

Two months ago, when Kevin Boss accepted the Oakland Raiders' money and Ben Patrick retired without explanation, the Giants searched for internal options at tight end.

General manager Jerry Reese expressed confidence that Travis Beckum could duplicate Boss? 35 catches. Bear Pascoe moved from working with fullbacks to practicing with tight ends. Yet five weeks into the season, it?s clear that the Giants have an undisputed starter ? it?s a name that was seldom mentioned when the competition first opened: Jake Ballard.

On the Giants? first drive of today?s 36-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, quarterback Eli Manning attempted four passes. Two were to Ballard, totaling 40 yards and a touchdown. Ballard later caught a 32-yarder to finish with three catches for 72 yards and a score.

?They just called me today, and I was open,? Ballard said. ?It wasn?t anything different in the game plan.?

Ballard didn?t dispute the increased confidence that Manning and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride developed in him. He went undrafted as a blocking tight end after recording only 14 catches in his senior season at Ohio State. He spent last year mostly on the practice squad, except for one catch-less game on the active roster.

Even when Ballard arrived in training camp this season with improved ball skills, tight ends coach Mike Pope did not praise him as a potential replacement for Boss during an interview. But he continued proving worthy in the preseason, and Ballard has now caught 10 of 12 passes targeted in his direction.

?I think Eli?s definitely looking my way a couple more times,? Ballard said. ?That?ll happen if I keep catching the balls I do.?

cont....
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http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2011/10/giants_tight_end_jake_ballard.html
 
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TE Jake Ballard. It?s hard to believe that this kid barely touched the ball at Ohio State and was only thought of as a blocker when he signed with the Giants. He had three more catches for 72 yards and all three were impressive. His first was a 28-yarder where he expertly found the seam in the Seattle zone. His second was a 12-yard touchdown where he caught the ball at the 3 and powered through three Seahawks into the end zone. And on the third one, a 32-yarder in the fourth quarter, it took five Seahawks to drag him down. Yes, the safety was probably, technically his fault. But I?m giving him a pass on that, at least partially (below).
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-I guess it was TE Jake Ballard who was responsible for DE Anthony Hargrove on the third-quarter safety, when Hargrove stopped RB DJ Ware just before he got out of the end zone. If Hargrove was his responsibility, though, that was a terribly designed play. Ballard is lined up off right tackle and Hargrove is over the right tackle, Kareem McKenzie (to Ballard?s left). Ballard does immediately move towards the DE, but he never had a shot to get there. McKenzie and RG Chris Snee are pulling right, so it doesn?t look like they were supposed to block him. I first thought maybe FB Henry Hynoski was supposed to hit him, but he runs right by him and looks for a lead block in the second level. It had to be Ballard who was supposed to get him, but when you look at the replay, he wasn?t going to get there unless Hargrove stood up and started counting ?One, Missisippi ? Two, Mississippi?. Something obviously went wrong on that play, but I can?t help but wonder if it was just a really bad design. Asked about that play today, Tom Coughlin said it "wasn?t a real good idea at that particular spot." It's not clear if he meant the play call, the blocking scheme, or what. Clearly, though, he knew something schematically was wrong.
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http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/2011/10/giants-know-theyre-better-but-didnt-show-it
 
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