In the offseason, all the experts deemed the Giants’ biggest weaknesses to be along the offensive line and the linebacking corp. Both look to be solidified by young players already on the Giants roster. The players I’m talking about are William Beatty and Clint Sintim. Those players are entering their third season in the NFL, a season many believe is the season that young players become stars in this league.

In addition to the signing of David Baas, the progression of Beatty will allow the Giants’ offensive line to return to the productive levels we have seen back in 2007 and 2008. David Diehl, David Baas, and Chris Snee form one of the best interior lines in the league, and flanked out at right, Kareem Mckenzie looks to add another solid year to his resume. This leads to the only question mark on the line, William Beatty. Beatty was a guy with first round talent, and fell to the second round simply due to the tremendous depth at the tackle position that year. In his third season with the Giants, he should have a firm enough grasp of the offense to make a huge contribution. If he does, watch out.

Michael Boley and his hefty contract will undoubtedly start at weak side linebacker this season. With Jonathan Goff’s great season, and lack of competition, he should look to man the middle for another year. That leaves the strong side spot open. All indications have been that the coaching staff is looking to Sintim to fill that role. The third year player has worlds of talent, it just hasn’t been realized on the football field yet. It is his third year, however, and you’d hope by now Sintim would be able to show something. Like Beatty, if he can reach his potential he can turn what was a question mark into an asset for the Giants.

In addition to these two players, look for Travis Beckum, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden to all improve on their previous performances, giving the Giants the impact players so many are craving from free agency. It might not be splashy, but the Giants have the makings of an improved team. That is scary when you realize they were 10-6 and possibly eight minutes away from being the 2nd seed in the playoffs last season.

Seubert and Diehl are perhaps the two toughest players on the New York Giants, and that’s saying something regardless which NFL team you’re discussing. This one would be a drag-em-out, last man standing, blood on the jersey position battle. Seubert demolished his leg in 2003, came back, and has started the previous 3 seasons, including the Super Bowl winning year. Diehl has started at 3 positions on the line, and has mentioned in the last post, has been named a 2nd team All-NFL selection as well as a Pro Bowler. Seubert played all last season with a shoulder injury so severe he needed surgery as soon as the season was over. But Diehl is probably the more skilled of the two.

It’s doubtful the Giants would even consider this battle unless they are sure that Beatty is ready to take over at tackle. But assuming that he shows enough in camp to lay claim to the position, this would quickly shape up to be one of the fiercest training camp battles in the NFL. The middle linebacker race would probably get more attention, but this one would be the most brutal.

When all is said and done, David Diehl would have to be favored. But don’t count Seubert out- people made that mistake after his leg injury, and he has been playing admirable left guard for the team the last three seasons. If Diehl holds off Beatty at the tackle spot, we won’t ever see the result of this battle, at least for another year. But if he does, get ready for a treat.

There’s no question that the Giants’ running game wasn’t the same last season. The Giants linemen took a lot of pride in setting the record for most consecutive games played as a cohesive offensive line. For more than four seasons’ worth of games, the same five lineman lined up next to each other through bruised bones, barking backs, and corroding knees. Did the injury sacrifices to chase that streak hurt them in the long run? It definitely seemed to catch up to them exponentially last season, where they more than made up for the previous years’ with a rash of long overdue injuries.

David Diehl is 29 and a lynch pin of that consecutive streak offensive line. But have all those injuries caught up with him? The Giants hope that William Beatty is the future left tackle. Drafted last season with the 60th overall pick in the second round out of UConn, Beatty had to be hurried into duty in 15 games, starting 3, because of the aforementioned rash of injuries. With a full year under his belt, will he be ready to take over from the accoladed vet? Beatty is both shorter and less stocky than Diehl and comes with a higher pedigree. But pedigree has never mattered to Diehl.

He’s a fighter. A 5th round draft pick who started every game in his rookie year… at right guard. The next season, Diehl started every game again… at right tackle. His third season, Diehl started 1 game at right tackle and the other 15 at left tackle. Perhaps the Giants are eying this versatility as a chance to move Diehl to another position on the line, allowing the future left tackle to take his role this season? Beatty definetly outperformed expectations last season when called upon, and few would question he is much more athletic than Diehl, which would come in handy against teams with ferocious pass rushers on that side like the Cowboys and DeMarcus Ware.

It seems the Giants want Beatty to take over for Diehl, which opens up more interesting position battles along the line.