FREE AGENT WATCH: CENTERS

While the Giants had some issues last year along their offensive line, it was due mainly to injuries and at one point a very bad coaching decision.

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.