Center David Baas was signed in Free Agency last year.  He was hurt on and off during the season and missed some valuable games.  He struggled throughout most of the regular season, but it can be said without argument that he had his best game of the year in the Super Bowl.  His play that day against NT Vince Wilfork and LB Brandon Spikes was solid, steady, and contributed to the win in a big way.

Tackle Will Beatty started at Left Tackle last year and was uneven at best.  He also had some health issues including a detached retina that cost him the end of the season and post season run.  The Giants must wait on the doctors evaluation to determine his health, but it seems Will can be ready to compete for a job once training camp begins

Guard Kevin Boothe could be voted MVP of this team. while not always doing an outstanding job, Kevin was able to fill in at center, guard, and tackle, sometimes on a moments notice, and do a good job.  Kevin will be back simply because of his versatility.

Tackle James Brewer was drafted in the 4th round last year.  We will see where his development takes him this season.  Another guy who didn’t get the experience of off season workouts, training sessions, and mini camps.

Tackle Selvish Capers is a young player that the Giants have re-signed to their practice squad.  Another young man that needs some work this off season.

Tackle David Diehl moved to guard originally last season, but then went back to tackle when Will Beatty went down. Diehl is a valued part of this line and will be part of it in some capacity this coming year. He took most of his snaps in OTA’s at right tackle, but that doesn’t mean it’s set in stone.

For anyone who saw this video of Guard Mitch Petrus, how could you not love this guy?  Mitch brings a tremendous amount of energy to the building, let alone the offensive line.  Mitch is happy to play, and would run through a brick wall for this team.  He is the kind of underdog guy everyone roots for, and hopefully can develop into a valuable part of the line.  I was at Mitch’s first game for the Giants as he was called on to replace an injured player.  He sprinted from the sideline to the huddle, and has been a fan favorite ever since.

Guard Chris Snee is the mainstay of this group along with David Diehl.  He is the rock they like to run behind, and has built himself a nice career in New York.  Chris had a few more penalties than usual this year, but he will get that cleaned up and remain a starter for this team.

Removed from the equation are names like Tony Ugoh, Kareem McKenzie and Stacy Andrews.  Decent players and contributors all, but it is certainly time to have a look at some new faces.

Welcome into the competition rookies Stephan Goodin at 6′-6″ 310, Brandon Mosley at 6′-5″ 318, and Matthew McCants at 6′-5″ and 309.  Also joining the competition will be Sean Locklear, a 9 year veteran, Chris White with 8 years experience, Jim Cordle entering his third year, and finally Joel Reinders entering his second season in the NFL.

This position is the part of the Offense that could use the most upgrading.  With the Giants having an explosive offense now, the strength of the receiving corps, and one of the top QB’s in the league, this unit is imperative.  Eli must be protected and given time to execute, the play action pass must mean something, which translates into the Giants must be able to run the ball when they want.  Look for this position to be first and foremost on the minds of the Giants fans and coaching staff throughout training camp.  These are the names on the current roster as of today.

What went wrong? Nearly everything. Manning didn’t play a bad game, it just looked that way as he got virtually no help from the rest of the offensive unit. The line didn’t block well, which meant that there was no rushing game, which meant there was no way to set up the passing game. That didn’t matter either, as the O-line didn’t do a good job of pass protection. With the exception of Victor Cruz, the receivers didn’t have a good game, either.

Defensively, Prince Aumkamara showed why he was the Giants number one choice, and Michael Herzlich showed promise. There were a couple of other players on the defensive side of the ball that had and OK game, but the team did not look as if they were prepared or motivated. Maybe the coaching staff is to blame, maybe the the players are to blame, maybe it was a joint effort. Whatever the reasons, the Giants must now fight and claw the way the Eagles did the other night. Maybe the Giants are now so angrywith themselves that they will find a way to upset the Saints.

I apologize for the short post, but Thanksgiving Day preparations call. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

According to a report from Philly.com, the Eagles offensive line has a lot more work to do before Week 1 of the regular season. In fact, their performance at times is downright scary.

via the article:

The best news for the line, after the Eagles rolled over the not-very-good Cleveland Browns last night, 24-14, is that the Sept. 11 season opener is still more than 2 weeks away. The next-best news is that the right side of the line against the Browns – rookie center Jason Kelce, rookie right guard Danny Watkins and stopgap right tackle King Dunlap – did appear to play better as its time on the field wore on. But they were somewhere between pretty bad and godawful at the start, and that is the concern that will keep Andy Reid awake in the coming nights. Vick still holds the ball a little bit too long, and gets clobbered accordingly, and that will just add to the insomnia.

As much as I like Danny Watkins on a press conference level, he still needs reps. Lots of em. So does rookie C Jason Kelce, and RT King Dunlap.

I do wonder how much of this is an overreaction, I mean the Eagles had a 17-0 lead at the half. Although it wasn’t as crisp of a performance as you’d like, it wasn’t horrible looking at the scoreboard. But, I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and help out the all-hype team with praise, they certainly have enough of that to go around.

Suffice it to say that the Giants offensive line issues aren’t nearly as bad as the Eagles right now.

The two pieces for the New York most in question are Will Beatty and David Baas — neither of whom are rookies, and who both looked decent enough over the first two weeks to show progress in their starting roles this season for the Giants. Eli Manning, like Vick did at times last night, looked like he was going to get killed on the first play of the game after a line miscue. But after that — it’s been progress. Against one of the best DE’s in the league last Monday night, Julius Peppers, he was decent. David Baas held his own and made some good blocks in screen pass situations, and the communication seemed to be a lot better. Much needed progress.

David Diehl is going to be the left side anchor reprising his role at LG, a move that many have suggested take place as far back as few seasons ago. Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie are both fixtures on the right side, you only hope neither one of those guys goes out with an injury. Knock on whatever you have near you right now…

So the Eagle line may be scary bad right now — but they have more than 17 weeks to make up for it with reps and time together. But the Giants @ Eagles game week 3 will be something to watch though with Justin Tuck and JPP bearing down on Philly’s youngsters, ready or not.

The Giants were believed to have been targeting a long term solution at offensive line in this years draft. However, when “The Prince” fell into their laps, and Marvin Austin was still on the board in the second round, plan B was put into effect. The Giants did not get a franchise o-lineman in the draft and will probably go with the rotation they currently have on the roster. Of course their will be a few un-drafted free agents signed, and maybe a low level free agent, but I believe the offensive line is on the team currently.

To recap the Giants currently have: Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie who were solid on the right side last year and were the healthiest of the bunch. David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Mitch Petrus, Shawn Andrews, Will Beatty, Adam Koets, and Kevin Boothe all took reps at different positions last season and missed games with injury parts of the year. This is a lot of guys to fit into basically 5 spots. The Giants did employ a few 6 lineman sets last year with limited success. The problem they face now is not knowing the health of these players. Will Rich Seubert be able to recover from a dis-located kneecap? Will Shaun O’Hara be able to return to top form after having surgery on both feet? Will Shawn Andrews have a healthy back? These are all the questions that surround the Giants as they head to camp on or about August 1st. These health concerns and the recovery of certain players is the position the team found itself in last year. With O’Hara hurting, Seubert moved to center and did a fabulous job. For that matter Adam Koets did a great job at center also. The Giants O-Line was the talk of the league for the first half of last season because everyone marveled at how they could put guys in that had never played certain positions and still they performed well as a unit. The problems at the end of the season arose when players were pronounced “healthy” and were plugged back into their old roles. The coaching decision to return guys to their old positions simply because they were medically cleared was a huge mistake. They weren’t ready to come back and play at the level that was necessary. It was an unfortunate miscalculation and cost us the one extra win we needed to make the post season. Of course their were many factors that cost us that one extra win, but this was certainly a contributing factor.

In closing I will simply say that the Giants will be inactive in pursuit of the position of center, and I believe that the offensive line will be made up of players currently on the roster.