Over the past four or five years, Big Blue had a roster problem.
For the New York Giants, last year’s 11-5 record showed significant progress. But remember, it came on the back of a $200 million upgrade of the defense. Yes, drafting seems to have gotten better too, which makes this training camp more functional.
By functional, I mean that no rookie will be required to start this season. Both Evan Engram and Dalvin Tomlinson seemed destined for the starting line-up. But if neither gets his name called during pregame in Dallas on Sept. 10th, the team shouldn’t suffer.
That has not been the case lately as guys like Landon Collins, Justin Pugh and Eli Apple were destined to get starting positions before the ink dried on their rookie contracts. Heck, the New York Giants took a step backwards when Darian Thompson couldn’t play last season. Thankfully because another rookie stepped up, Andrew Adams, Thompson’s injury was not a harmful as it could have been.
New York Giants
Which leads us to good old Ereck Flowers.
Is there Flower Power in our future?
Since the departure of Markus Kuhn, Flowers has become the G-Men’s D.S. That stands for designated scapegoat.
Having Kuhn as a scapegoat never made sense. He was a sixth-round draft pick and rotational defensive tackle. Besides the guy was born in Germany. How many NFL’ers can say that?
On the other hand, Ereck Flowers deserves every bit of scrutiny that he gets. And then some.
When you’re a higher draft pick than Odell Beckham, well you better play the part. Flowers has not come close to playing the part for two seasons now. The way these things run their course remains simple.
First comes the excuses. Well, Flowers is miscast as a left tackle. Yeah, and how many right tackles get drafted that high?
He’s young and still learning.
OK, that seems to work in the NBA, but not so much in the NFL. Flowers still needed to be a serviceable left tackle in 2015 and 2016.
He wasn’t.
It’s great that he lost weight and worked on his technique. I guess two seasons of being a revolving door can wake up anyone.
Training Camp Means Everything
Flowers definitely was cast as one of those players who needed to start as a rookie. That’s because general manager Jerry Reese put stock in Will Beatty. Beatty was a decent player but injury prone.
In addition, Reese swung and missed at more than one offensive lineman over the course of several drafts. Hopefully you recall names like Eric Herman, Brandon Mosley, James Brewer and Mitch Petrus. Herman never played in an NFL game. Brewer, Mosley and Petrus averaged 25 NFL games, or less than two years in the league. None came close to be a fixture.
Why does any of this matter?
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Jordan Raanan of ESPN tells us that undrafted free agent Chad Wheeler saw some snaps with the first team at left tackle.
Ahhh, progress…
Time will tell if Ereck Flowers is a complete flop or a serviceable left tackle. Flowers will get ample opportunity to prove his worth this season. Now, slotting Wheeler in at left tackle raises the ante for Flowers right now. He’d better respond.
Because of the aforementioned roster “problems”, Flowers got a free pass in 2015 and 2016. Hopefully, Ben McAdoo just revoked that pass. Being the same old Ereck Flowers won’t cut it. Not only does Flowers have to lose weight and improve technique, he has to become better at his job.
There’s someone nipping at Flowers’ heels.
"Per Raanan, “Wheeler, 23, was a four-year starter at USC. He had been enjoying a strong training camp. He uses his hands well and had cemented himself as the second-team left tackle, where he had been matched primarily against backup defensive end Kerry Wynn and rookie Avery Moss.”"
Improvement Needed
Initially, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing for Wheeler either. But surely McAdoo didn’t think the next Anthony Munoz was a free agent signee at the bottom of his depth chart.
"“He jumped in there and got beat like a drum on the first play,” McAdoo said. “After that he hung in there nicely.”"
The first test for Flowers comes Friday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He needs to be efficient and clean. Anything else is simply not acceptable. Because of the previous roster issues, the bar was set incredibly low for Flowers.
Must Read: New York Giants: Big Blue should follow Belichick plan
Ironically, he still cannot clear it.
With an expected playoff berth in the New York Giants future, the time for moral victories is over. It seems that head coach Ben McAdoo realizes that excuses are counterproductive. Improvement is not only desired, it is required.
Jerry Reese pushed the chips to the middle of the table betting on Flowers. McAdoo was smart to hedge his bet.