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Former Pitt fullback Henry Hynoski knows what he needs to do and why he was brought into the Giants' camp after going undrafted:
"There are going to be teams that use it and you always need … somebody that’s going to be a thumper out there," Hynoski said. "That’s why they brought me in here, to be a battering ram and catch the ball out of the backfield."
So far, it sounds like he's doing a solid job. He's even getting quite a bit of praise from coaches and teammates including starting quarterbak Eli Manning:
"He has a pretty good grasp of what’s going on, from Day 1," quarterback Eli Manning said. "That’s always a good start for a new guy."
Going back to what Hynoski said, though, his pass-catching ability is probably a big reason he got a shot. I've lauded his ability to catch balls out of the backfield before and he's doing well in that area for the Giants:
Henry Hynoski was the only player working exclusively at fullback Thursday. Speaking of Hynoski, he seems to be comfortable catching the ball out of the backfield. He smoothly hauled in several passes Thursday.
While Hynoski was never a huge numbers guy (of course, though, what fullbacks are), he was one of Pitt's most popular players last year. That popularity is apparently rubbing off on Giants fans as well.
That doesn't mean he hasn't had his bad moments, though.
Hynoski's had a good showing so far in camp, but still has had times when he could have looked better:
Bear Pascoe - I have been writing since last season that Pascoe is not a good enough blocker to be a fullback in the National Football League. He got blown up multiple times in the Bears' game, and quite honestly, so did undrafted free agent rookie Henry Hynoski.
The Daily News also noticed Hynoski had a poor night blocking in that game:
The tight end blocking – Brutal. Just brutal. Too many missed or bad blocks to name, and pretty much everyone. That includes rookie FB Henry Hynoski, who was stood up many times at the line of scrimmage.
As SB Nation's Giants' blog Big Blue View points out (and as was chronicled here), Hynoski's draft hopes were dashed when he went unsigned. But with things now looking up, that's all becoming an afterthought. Last I checked, he was listed as the backup fullback, but it sounds more and more as if Hynoski will not only make the team, but get some playing time this year.