PHOENIX -- John Harbaugh has seen it every day for the past four years with tight end Isaiah Likely. The way he catches the ball. The details with which he runs his routes. The way he makes yards after the catch.
It has never resulted in Likely having 500 yards receiving in a season with the Baltimore Ravens. Harbaugh, the former Ravens turned Giants coach, has bet that will change after New York signed him to a three-year, $40 million deal. His reasoning -- all the things he saw each day in Baltimore.
With that knowledge of the young tight end, Harbaugh isn't just hopeful that bigger numbers are on the horizon in an offense that doesn't include former All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews. Harbaugh knows it will happen.
"That's what I've seen. I've seen him every day in practice. I've seen him make plays. I know how he plays the game," Harbaugh said this past week at the NFL's annual meetings. "So, you try to kind of create a vision for a player; what do you think they're capable of doing? One thing that we always try to do is see what players can do. Not so much concerned about what they don't do, what they haven't done, what they can't do. What can they do?
"When you see a player do it every day, you got a pretty good idea what he's capable of. So, I'm certain he's going to be able to put up the numbers you're talking about, the stats. That wasn't part of the thing in Baltimore because of the supporting cast, so to speak."
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Likely will still have to compete with tight end Theo Johnson in New York. The Giants envision Johnson being a big part of what they do. Harbaugh noted that Likely and Johnson will make an impactful one-two punch. So, expect a lot of two-tight-end sets. Harbaugh even called Likely and Johnson "very special, talented players" whom he's excited to see together.
Still, at $13 million per season, it's clear that Likely is expected to fill the role that belonged to Andrews in Baltimore. Andrews averaged 622 yards and seven touchdowns per season in his four years with Likely. That seems to be fair expectations for Likely in New York.
Overall, Harbaugh and Giants general manager Joe Schoen were really happy with the way free agency unfolded. It allowed them to establish what they're going to be about as a team.