NY Giants Offensive Line
Bench: Cameron Fleming
Start: Matt Peart
Find more snaps for: Shane Lemieux
The NY Giants need to take the cord out from the “Cameron Fleming Starting Right Tackle Experience”. It hasn’t worked. Fleming has endured a brutal year at right tackle where he’s been consistently overwhelmed by the left side of the defense’s oncoming pass rush.
Fleming was signed to be the swing tackle and first guy off the bench. Now is the time to put him into the role he signed for.
By benching Fleming, Marc Colombo should look to rookie Matt Peart to take on Fleming’s role in the offense. Peart has shown real promise in limited snaps so far, but his body type and length is very intriguing for a tackle. Matt Peart’s development should start now as there is no reason not to and the guy ahead of him has struggled week in and week out.
Andrew Thomas needs to continue to start full-time to continue his development as he has struggled greatly to start his NFL career. He has been the worst out of the 2020 draft’s “Big 4” of offensive tackles. Big Blue needs to figure out where Thomas is best suited for his future with the team. It doesn’t matter if its on the right or left side, Thomas should be able to play both after doing both in college. The NY Giants can’t mess up another top-10 offensive tackle prospect after the Ereck Flowers disaster. Cross-training both Part and Thomas at left and right tackle is best for NY and will help with who should play where.
Another major issue for this season’s offensive line woes has been the play of their interior line. The NY Giants’ guards and centers haven’t gotten it done this year.
The team drafted Shane Lemieux in the 5th round of the 2020 Draft. His reputation from Oregon is known for being a tough, mauler in the run game who uses his brute strength to move defenders.
This is the exact issue the current guards have as they are unable to get their hands inside the defender, secure leverage, and then push their man downfield. Will Hernandez hasn’t gotten better in the last 23 games, it’s time they seriously start looking at alternatives at left guard, center, and right guard.
Lemieux played guard exclusively in college but worked at center extensively during training camp. With some refined technique, Shane should be able to mold into a late-round gem and help the team out down the road as a key cog in the trenches. They should look to get his feet wet in his rookie year to get him ready for a heavier workload in the future.