Martellus Bennett reportedly says Eli Manning in different league from Tony Romo

Martellus Bennett has had an excellent start to the season for the Giants. The tight end has caught a touchdown in each of the Giants’ first three games, and he’s quickly putting together what will likely be the best season of his career. The outspoken tight end reportedly attributes his success to playing with a better quarterback.

The New York Post reports that Bennett was overheard talking with a teammate at dinner and saying that “Tony Romo isn’t in the same league as Eli Manning. Not even close.”

We don’t ordinarily give attention to such loosely-sourced items, but Bennett was quoted expressing a similar sentiment in July. If he indeed said Manning was in a different league from Romo, it would make sense; he hadn’t scored a touchdown with the Cowboys since 2008, but he’s scored in three straight games with the Giants.

We mentioned Bennett as a recommended fantasy pickup after Week 2, so we recognized his success with the Giants. And really, this comes down to a few differences between his time with Dallas and New York. In Dallas, Bennett was behind Jason Witten on the tight end depth chart. Even though the Cowboys wanted to use him in double tight end formations, Bennett simply dropped a lot of passes and was a disappointment. In New York, he’s the starting tight end, and he’s fitting a role that is critical in the Giants’ offense. Whether it’s Kevin Boss, Jake Ballard, or Bennett, Manning loves throwing to his tight ends, especially in the red zone. Bennett happens to be the guy benefiting in that role this year.