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Giants’ 90-man roster: Eric Dungey trying to make transition to hybrid role

Giants giving ex-SU quarterback a look at tight end

By Ed Valentine
Camping World Bowl - West Virginia v Syracuse
Eric Dungey
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

The NFL is often called a copycat league. Someone comes up with an idea — a play, a scheme, a formation, a style — that works and other teams try to implement their own versions.

Thus, the success of the New Orleans Saints in taking an athletic college quarterback, Taysom Hill, and turning him into a multi-faceted offensive weapon who can be used running, receiving and throwing is something other teams would like to duplicate.

The New York Giants, with undrafted former Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey in the hybrid role, are one of the teams trying to find their own version of Hill. Let’s look closer at Dungey as we continue profiling the 90 players the Giants will bring to training camp.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 220
Age: 22
Position: QB/TE
Experience: 0

How he got here

In a year considered to be a down one for the overall quarterback class, Dungey was not one of the 11 quarterbacks deemed draft-worthy by NFL teams. The Giants, though, wanted Dungey badly enough that head coach Pat Shurmur got on the phone to try and entice him to choose the Giants.

“He was a key guy, a guy that we targeted,” Shurmur said.

The pitch worked:

“We were kind of all over the board probably until Tuesday late afternoon," Tim Dungey [Eric’s fagther] said. “Shurmur called Eric, and they had a long conversation and he made Eric feel pretty good.

“There are no guarantees, drafted or not. You have to go earn it.”

For what it’s worth, here is a statistical comparison of the college careers of Dungey and Hill.

Passing

Dungey
Year School G Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rate
2015 Syracuse 8 105 176 59.7 1298 11 5 136.6
2016 Syracuse 9 230 355 64.8 2679 15 7 138.2
2017 Syracuse 9 225 377 59.7 2495 14 9 122.8
*2018 Syracuse 13 226 371 60.9 2868 18 9 137.0
Career Syracuse 786 1279 61.5 9340 58 30 133.1

Hill
Year School G Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rate
*2012 Brigham Young 6 42 71 59.2 425 4 2 122.4
*2013 Brigham Young 13 236 438 53.9 2938 19 14 118.1
*2014 Brigham Young 5 88 132 66.7 975 7 3 141.7
*2015 Brigham Young 1 21 34 61.8 268 1 1 131.8
*2016 Brigham Young 12 222 372 59.7 2323 12 11 116.9
Career Brigham Young 609 1047 58.2 6929 43 31 121.4

Rushing

Dungey
Year School G Att Yds Avg TD
2015 Syracuse 8 91 351 3.9 5
2016 Syracuse 9 125 293 2.3 6
2017 Syracuse 9 143 595 4.2 9
*2018 Syracuse 13 184 754 4.1 15
Career Syracuse 543 1993 3.7 35

Hill
Year School G Att Yds Avg TD
*2012 Brigham Young 6 55 336 6.1 4
*2013 Brigham Young 13 246 1344 5.5 10
*2014 Brigham Young 5 87 460 5.3 8
*2015 Brigham Young 1 9 72 8.0 2
*2016 Brigham Young 12 137 603 4.4 8
Career Brigham Young 534 2815 5.3 32

2019 outlook

So, now the question is can Dungey make the transition?

“He is a very accomplished quarterback and made a lot of plays with his feet,” Shurmur said. “We will see. I think he is a good football player. Usually there is a place on the field for good football players. We will see what happens.”

At just 220 pounds and never having blocked before, a traditional tight end role is likely out of the question for Dungey.

To be honest, it’s probably unrealistic to expect Dungey to push for a spot on the 53-man roster initially. Hill took a full year in New Orleans to learn the role, and was an impact player in his second season.

Perhaps that should be the template for Dungey. If he shows promise in the hybrid role, a practice squad spot in 2019 would seem logical as he learns the finer points of what the Giants are asking him to do.

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