New York Giants Must Prioritize Offensive Line In 2017 NFL Draft
The New York Giants have built an elite defense, but are they falling behind the curve elsewhere? The fix could be the 2017 NFL Draft.
The New York Giants are mere hours away from an event that will define Jerry Reese’s future as general manager. The two-time Super Bowl champion has a chance to complete the construction of a championship contender through what’s become a polarizing 2017 NFL Draft.
In order to make the leap from being an 11-win team to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, the Giants’ top priority must be to fortify the offensive line.
There are an infinite number of ways to win a football game. Whether it’s the pros or the collegiate scene, the notion that there’s a uniform for victory is false and vastly overstated—the latter of which has led the NFL to becoming a copy-cat league.
If there’s one area in which every team must believe the hype, however, it’s at the line of scrimmage.
Winning the battle at the line of scrimmage often enables teams to win the overall war. New York has mastered one half of that battle by building one of the most dominant defensive lines in the NFL.
Much as Reese has invested heavily in Damon Harrison, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Olivier Vernon, he must now do the same with the offensive line.
New York attempted to address the flaws of the offensive line this past offseason by signing D.J. Fluker and re-signing John Jerry. The moves could potentially enable the Giants to both discover a diamond in the rough and build continuity at guard.
Outside of Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg, however, the Giants’ offensive line is greatly unproven—both amongst the incumbents and the new arrival.
Ereck Flowers has underwhelmed at left tackle—so much so that he’s become a liability against high-quality edge rushers. Some have hypothesized that the Giants could move Flowers to right tackle, but Reese has doubled down on his support for the mercurial lineman.
And thus, the Giants have found themselves in the current situation—a situation that can be best described as a true predicament.
Pugh at left guard and Richburg at center create the infrastructure for a dominant offensive line. Neither tackle position is solid enough to create consistent protection for Eli Manning, however, and the situation at right guard is still somewhat unsettling.
In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Giants will have an opportunity to add raw talent to a line that’s in desperate need of improvement.
As the Dallas Cowboys have overwhelmed opponents with an offensive line that enabled two rookies to lead the team to a division title, the Giants have fallen far behind. Not only is New York’s offensive line not on par with Dallas’, but it’s a borderline weakness.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Giants fielded the worst pair of offensive tackles in the NFL during the 2016 season.
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Jerry Reese and the New York Giants may be inclined to take the best player available, but Reese can only ace the 2017 NFL Draft if he addresses the voids along the offensive line.