Palladino: Giants Jake Ballard An Unlikely Target
October 14, 2011
?From the Pressbox?
By Ernie Palladino
Jake Ballard #85 of the New York Giants is grabbed by Earl Thomas #29 of the Seattle Seahawks during a game at MetLife Stadium on October 9, 2011 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Seahawks defeated the Giants 36-25. (Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images)
When the season started, the book on Jake Ballard was all block, no catch.
That wasn?t necessarily a bad thing. He was, after all, penciled in as a second tight end, and the job description for that involves 90 percent blocking. And Ballard, if nothing else, is a willing blocker, even if he does make the occasional mistake like last week?s goof-up on Anthony Hargrove as the Seattle defensive end charged in unimpeded to drop DJ Ware for a safety.
The Giants had to expect growing pains like that when they installed last year?s practice-squadder into the game day lineup in the wake of Kevin Boss? free agent departure for the Raiders. They?ll live with them.
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With Kevin Boss gone, NY Giants turn to undrafted second-year tight end Jake Ballard
BY Ebenezer Samuel
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Saturday, October 15th 2011
Robert Sabo/News
NY Giants TE Jake Ballard has ten catches and two touchdowns through first five games.
Jake Ballard still feels a certain sense of awe. Every day last season, the undrafted rookie tight end followed Giants veteran Kevin Boss. He sat next to Boss in position conferences and watched Boss closely during practice, admiring the veteran's route-running ability.
"Watching film with him and watching him in practice, it helped me a lot running routes," Ballard says. "I learned a ton."
But instead of working with Boss this year, the second-year tight end is replacing the man who taught him so much.
"I kind of thought, going to camp last year, that if I could get on this team, it'd be me and Kev," he says. "But fate (Boss signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders in August) kind of fell my way, and now I'm trying to make the best of it."
Ballard has done more than that. He ranks third on the team with 192 receiving yards and two TD catches, and gained the confidence of his quarterback.
"He's doing a good job," says Eli Manning. "He's getting open for us. He has a good feel for the offense, and he's making big plays for us."
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Ballard filling the void at tight end for Giants
Giants Blog
By DAN TOMASINO
Posted: October 17, 201
The inconsistency endured by the Giants this season cannot be attributed to the loss of fan-favorite tight end Kevin Boss to free agency.
His replacement, Jake Ballard, has proven to be more than capable, and yesterday the second-year player out of Ohio State was a big part of a resurgent passing attack that helped the 4-2 Giants knock off the Bills 27-24 in front of 79,243 fans at MetLife Stadium.
Ballard recorded career highs in receptions (five) and receiving yards (81), proving to be just as reliable a target for Eli Manning as Boss once was. He caught all five of the passes thrown to him.
New York Post
BIG GAIN: Tight end Jake Ballard tries to bust loose in the third quarter after one of his five receptions during the Giants? 27-24 victory over the Bills yesterday at MetLife Stadium.
?It means the world,? Ballard said. ?Everybody said this year we need to get a tight end in here and wanted me out pretty much. ?Oh, he?s a big, slow, blocking tight end. He?s not gonna catch any passes.? I?m just trying to prove them wrong week to week and play with a chip on my shoulder.?
Those Ballard is proving wrong include some of his teammates.
?I?m gonna put Brandon Jacobs out there little bit,? Ballard said. ?Last game [versus the Seahawks], he came up to me after I scored that touchdown and [said], ?I?ll be honest, I thought we needed a tight end, but you?re proving me wrong week to week. Keep doing it.? ?
Ballard nearly scored his third touchdown of the season on his second reception yesterday, a 24-yard play that set up Ahmad Bradshaw?s first 1-yard touchdown run.
?He doesn?t have the great speed but he just has a great feel for what to do,? Manning said. ?He?s catching the ball well and he?s playing smart football.?
Ballard?s previous career highs were three receptions in Weeks 4 and 5, and 72 yards, which he racked up last week. He said his improvement stems from being more comfortable in his role and by ?doing what Eli expects you to do.?
The quarterback clearly as confidence in his new tight end, who is building a reputation for gaining yards after contact.
?I used to love watching [Jeremy] Shockey when he first got into the league, and he was running over guys,? Ballard said. ?That?s what I want to be like. I?m 6-6, 275. I should be running over guys and not be easy to tackle.?
Is Giants? Ballard Owed an Apology?
By SAM BORDEN
New York Giants
Brandon Jacobs went up to the Giants? new tight end, Jake Ballard, on the sideline two weeks ago, seeking him out to offer a confession.
?I?ll be honest,? Jacobs said to Ballard. ?I thought we needed a tight end. But you?re proving me wrong, week to week. Keep doing it.?
The Giants' Jake Ballard has surprised his teammates with his pass-catching ability.
Barton Silverman/The New York Times
The Giants? Jake Ballard has surprised his teammates with his pass-catching ability.
In relating the story after Sunday?s victory over the Buffalo Bills, Ballard smiled. He knew that Jacobs was not the only one who had concerns about how the Giants would fill the void left by their former tight end Kevin Boss.
?I would have wondered, too,? Ballard said.
But Ballard has quickly shown that he can be more than the ?blocking tight end? he was at Ohio State. He caught all five passes thrown his way Sunday ? two more than he caught in any one game in college, he said ? and has recorded 273 receiving yards in six games. He has also scored two touchdowns, including one in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks which prompted Jacobs to offer his mea culpa.
?He doesn?t have the great speed, but he just has a great feel for what to do,? Eli Manning said of Ballard. ?You can see it on a few of the plays today. It?s not exactly how they were scripted, but he scrambles around. He has a feel for what?s going on. He?s catching the ball well and playing smart football.?
So where did you fall on Ballard? Did you believe he could replace Boss or do you owe him an apology like Jacobs?
GIANTS: Tight end Jake Ballard continues to be surprise package
Published: Wednesday, October 19, 2011
By GEORGE O?GORMAN
[email protected]
EAST RUTHERFORD ? All the moaning about letting Kevin Boss go off to Oakland has ended.
Around Giants camp these days they?re singing the praises of Jake Ballard, the newest weapon in Eli Manning?s arsenal which offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride hopes to utilize a lot more when the G-Men return from their bye week to face a brutal final 10 games.
Coach Tom Coughlin had plenty of praise for the second-year tight end from Ohio State the Giants took as a free agent in 2010.
He caught all five passes Manning threw to him in the Buffalo win, producing 81 yards with a long of 24 that set up the first of Ahmad Bradsahw?s three 1-yard touchdown runs.
?He?s a smart guy,? Manning said of the 6-foot-6, 275 pound Ballard whose development has allowed the Giants to return former tight end Bear Pascoe to his more successful fullback role.
?He?s understanding the system, and while he doesn?t have great speed he has a great feel for what to do,? added Manning. ?You can see it in a few of the plays he had (Sunday). It?s not exactly how they were scripted but he scrambled around.
?He has a feel for what?s going on. He?s catching the ball and playing smart,? said Manning.
Giants' Jake Ballard, once overlooked, now catching everyone's eye
Published: Sunday, October 23, 2011
Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger
William Perlman/The Star-Ledger
Giants tight end Jake Ballard has 15 receptions for 273 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Jake Ballard always was, as his mother puts it, ?that big, little kid,? bigger than all of his peers, including his fraternal twin brother, over whom he held a 4- to 5-inch edge from the time they were toddlers.
?He was still a little kid, but he looked older,? Debby Ballard said. ?I just always felt for him because people expected bigger things out of him when he was younger.?
Ironic, seeing as how people are now expecting less of the Giants tight end only to be surprised to the upside.
At 6-6 and 275 pounds, Ballard was overlooked by most scouts and coaches because he was seen as primarily a blocking tight end. But through the first six weeks of this season into this bye weekend, he has proved to be so much more.
Ballard doesn?t have Jeremy Shockey?s speed and agility or what offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride termed Kevin Boss? ?special? skills, but he has 15 receptions for 273 yards and two touchdowns. For a team badly in need of a pass-catching threat in the middle of the field after Boss? departure as a free agent, Ballard has been a revelation.
Those who have watched Ballard for years insist they?re not surprised by his success, but the Giants aren?t shy about saying they have been. Though they?re not quite sure how he does it, they?re glad Ballard has come through so far.
?He?s done a good job working. He?s understanding the schemes, to get open, run good routes, just has a good feel for finding openings,? quarterback Eli Manning said. ?He?s shown he?s dependable and is going to be in the right spot.?
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Giants' Jake Ballard active on the field and in his sleep
Published: Sunday, October 23, 2011
By Mike Garafolo/The Star-Ledger
William Perlman/The Star-Ledger
Giants tight end Jake Ballard is a chronic sleepwalker who has disrupted the sleep patterns of a few teammates in the past. "I'm on edge," Giants offensive lineman Jim Cordle said, "and he's out cold."
Sometimes you report on a guy for a profile and you get some kind of funny or interesting information that doesn't fit the story. In the case of Jake Ballard, I learned he's a chronic sleepwalker. So while it didn't fit with the piece on his on-field productiveness I wrote for Sunday's paper, I figured I'd pass it along here because, for a guy who's been known to sleepwalk here and there, I was able to identify and found it all to be funny stuff.
Jake Ballard is making it look so easy this season it almost seems he could play tight end in his sleep.
Which, actually, isn?t that far-fetched.
The Giants? tight end, who is off to a surprisingly productive start, is a chronic sleepwalker. In fact, that?s the first thing Jim Cordle, his teammate with the Giants and at Ohio State, mentioned when asked what the general public should know about Ballard.
?This year coming back, the first night, we were staying at the Fairfield Inn,? Cordle said, rolling right into a sleepwalking story. ?There was a lamp on the nightstand between the beds and, in the middle of the night, I hear him fling out of bed. He grabs the lamp and he?s like this.?
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Jake Ballard unknown but dangerous
Originally published: October 29, 2011
By TOM ROCK [email protected]
Jake Ballard's first quarter touchdown against the Seattle
Photo credit: David Pokress | Jake Ballard's first quarter touchdown against the Seattle Seahawks is confirmed by the official. (Oct. 9, 2011)
The Dolphins have enough things to worry about when they play the Giants at MetLife Stadium Sunday. Their season already is a disaster. Their own running back says they stink and their fans happily use a harsher word. Their head coach might not make it through the month. And they have to figure out a way to stop Giants offensive weapons such as Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw.
The last thing they need is to focus on another threat.
Enter Jake Ballard.
The tight end has been an afterthought in most defensive game plans through the first six weeks of the regular season. He's used that to his advantage, catching 15 passes, scoring two touchdowns and averaging 18.2 yards.
Eventually, though, teams are going to figure out that they have to account for the 6-6, 275-pounder with soft hands, a knack for getting open and an ability to drag would-be tacklers for extra yardage. Perhaps even with everything on their plate, the Dolphins will be the first.
"He'll challenge us, no question about it," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "It's just another one of their weapons. He's a good player as long as they are getting him involved."
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Jake Ballard sees opportunity against Patriots for Giants tight end to make an impact
Published: Thursday, November 03, 2011
By Mike Vorkunov/The Star-Ledger
Jim O'Connor-US PRESSWIRE
Giants tight end Jake Ballard sees an opportunity to make an impact against the Patriots.
With the Giants now at risk of missing several weapons against the New England Patriots, an opportunity opens up for an increased role for Jake Ballard.
New England is 27th in the NFL in guarding tight ends, according to FootballOutsiders.com. Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers? Heath Miller caught seven balls for 85 yards, including three straight catches on their first drive. In the first quarter Miller was targeted eight times and caught six passes.
?It says to me that I need to have a big game and do whatever I can to help this team out,? Ballard said.
?It?s a huge opportunity to me and the offense.?
Ballard caught four passes for 55 yards but he dropped one ball over the middle of the field that could have been a big play for at least 25 yards. That one stayed with him but he?s looking to put the drop into the past.
?I don?t think anybody can just forget about drops but it?s my first real drop this year,? Ballard said. ?It happens and I have to do whatever I can to make sure it doesn?t happen again.?
