Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive
This is the draft the Giants have been waiting for since December 0f 2017, when Dave Gettleman was hired as general manager. He vowed then to fix the offensive line. And after two years, he entered this draft vowing to fix it "once and for all."
Then he went out and took three offensive linemen with his first five picks.
So, is it fixed?
"Well, you know, we feel real good about it," Gettleman said shortly after the draft wrapped up on Saturday. "We've got two tackles and a guard that we feel real strong about. Adding them to what we already have now, we're very pleased with this."
The optimism is nice, but it's still hard to tell just how close the line rebuilding is to completion. For sure, the Giants have more young, talented linemen on their roster than they've had in the Gettleman years - and possibly since long before that. He had drafted just two offensive linemen in his two previous drafts, and one of those is a seventh-rounder who's already gone.
So the cupboard is no longer bare, but the line isn't yet the strength it needs to be in order to make the Giants a truly playoff-caliber team.
"Every team I've been on that has been playoff-worthy and gone deep has had a good offensive line," Gettleman said. "The O-line really does set the tone."
Will this one? That's hard to say. Gettleman said "We're fired up about these guys," and he should be, because in Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas (first round), UConn tackle Matt Peart (third), and Oregon State guard Shane Lemieux (fifth) he appears to have drafted some good ones. But two of them, at least, are likely to be backups this season.
So this isn't the powerful, Super Bowl-caliber 2007 offensive line just yet. It's a line in transition, and could be for a while.
Just look:
Left tackle: This almost certainly will be Thomas' spot for years, though possibly not in 2020. The Giants still do have Nate Solder on the roster, and there's no indication they're willing to absorb the $16 million in dead money they'd be stuck with if they cut him. Now, Gettleman admitted last week that the 32-year-old Solder "had a rough year last year." But he's still likely to be the left tackle this season, with Thomas playing on the right side. Then in 2021 Solder should be gone.
Left guard: This is probably the most settled position on the line, with Will Hernandez, the Giants' second-rounder in 2018, heading into his third NFL season. He wasn't great last year either, but they are confident that will change.
Center: The biggest remaining problem spot is right in the middle. The Giants like Jon Halapio a lot, but he tore his Achilles late last season and Gettleman said they don't expect to have any clarity on his status until June, at the earliest. So veteran Spencer Pulley is their center. They looked around free agency for an upgrade, but came up empty, and they surprisingly didn't find one in the draft either. New coach Joe Judge said Lemieux would see some work at center in training camp, though he's never played the position. And they've considered moving tackle Nick Gates to center, which is just a sign of how desperate they are.
Right guard: The Giants are thrilled with what they've gotten out of Kevin Zeitler, who came over in the Odell Beckham/Olivier Vernon trade. But he's also 30 and in the last year of his contract. That probably explains the drafting of Lemieux, who could be his eventual replacement.
Right tackle: Gates was the likely successor to departed free agent Mike Remmers. Then the Giants signed former Cowboys backup Cam Fleming. But now Fleming is likely headed to the bench because the Giants are going to need to get Thomas into the lineup somewher. Fleming provides good depth, but he's only signed for one year.
So it's possible that the Giants will start this season with a line, from left to right, of Solder, Hernandez, Pulley, Zeitler and Thomas, with only Hernandez returning to that same position in 2021. Yes, the line is better and deeper than it's been. And Gettleman has done a very good job of improving it quickly.
But fixed? Not quite. At least not yet. The Giants line will be better, but it's still also very much in flux.
