NFL

Are the Giants entering training camp with no ‘end’ in sight?

They have five on the roster, but for the Giants there is a real and legitimate question concerning the state of their tight end position:

Do they have even one?

The Giants on Monday report to camp and will go through conditioning tests under the watchful eyes of coach Tom Coughlin. The first practice of camp is Tuesday and then the race is on to see if any of these unfinished products, this collection of seeming misfits, will emerge as a capable, reliable player. The Giants need three of them and as the summer heats up there are no assurances that any of the assembled cast of characters can do the job.

Figure this search for a tight end will be an ongoing theme as camp heats up. Here’s a sobering statistical tidbit: The five tight ends on the roster totaled six NFL receptions in 2013.

There are two young, good-looking athletes, Adrien Robinson and Larry Donnell, returnees whose NFL careers thus far are more myth than substance. There are two veterans, Kellen Davis (29) and Daniel Fells (31), both new to the Giants and fairly underwhelming in their previous stays around the league. There’s an undrafted rookie free agent, Xavier Grimble, 22, who probably would have little chance to make many NFL rosters but, if he flashes some potential, might be able to sneak onto this one, based on the competition.

Heck, even the coaching situation at this position is in transition. The venerable Mike Pope, often considered the NFL’s best tight ends coach, was dismissed, swept up in the offensive purge and replaced by Kevin M. Gilbride, the son of the jettisoned offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride, who is retired. Kevin M. Gilbride was the receivers coach for the Giants and moves into an unfamiliar role, working with a new position group.

“I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Coach Pope for four years before, so I got to know him as a man and as a coach and a teacher,’’ Gilbride said. “I haven’t thought much about replacing him so it’s a hard question for me to answer. I will say this — he was a very good coach and a great man.’’

Undrafted rookie Xavier Grimble and veterans Kellen Davis and Daniel Fells round out the Giants options at tight end as training camp kicks off this week.Neil Miller, Paul J. Bereswill, Bill Kostroun

Pope remains in the NFC East, hired by the Cowboys to coach their tight ends. The Giants thought so highly of Pope they believed he could mold almost anyone into a decent player.

It is a misnomer to view tight end as a priority position for the Giants ever since Jerry Reese became general manager. He won Super Bowls with Kevin Boss (a fifth-round draft pick) and Jake Ballard (undrafted) starting and producing. Reese signed Martellus Bennett on the cheap in 2012, but after one season he left for the Bears. Last year’s signing of former Raider Brandon Myers did not pan out.

First-year offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo came up through the ranks as a tight ends coach with the Packers and wants to incorporate the tight end in the Giants passing game — something he did quite well with Jermichael Finley in Green Bay. Finley, following spinal fusion surgery, remains unsigned, and if he passes medical protocol could be a fallback option if the tight ends on the roster fail to impress.

The best-case scenario is for Davis (95 NFL games) to prove himself as a blocker and for Donnell also to develop as a blocker. Robinson is the wild card here. He was dubbed by Reese “the JPP of tight ends’’ after taking Robinson in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, alluding to Jason Pierre-Paul’s raw but exciting physical skill-set. Thus far, that’s been nothing more than a punch line, as Robinson has no career receptions and played in only three games in his two years.

“He’s working incredibly hard to learn,’’ Gilbride said. “That’s something that, going in, just knowing him as a personality not as someone I’ve taught before, I didn’t know. He’s in there, he’s taking copious notes, he’s answering questions very well. What we need to do is we need to get him to be able to transition that onto the field. He’s made strides, there’s no doubt that he’s made strides, but there needs to be a lot more.’’