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In a long-awaited, though, possibly dangerous move, the Giants are benching their embattled right tackle Ereck Flowers Sunday in Houston and replacing him with second-year pro Chad Wheeler, according to a team source.

The move is dangerous, considering Wheeler will be staring at all-pro Texans defensive end J.J. Watt for most of the day, but was deemed necessary by the coaches, the source said, confirming the initial report from NFL Network. The 24-year-old Wheeler didn't appear to be much of an upgrade over Flowers during five starts last season, but Flowers' performance and progress have been poor enough that the coaches felt they had to do something.

Wheeler took most, but not all, of the first-team reps during the week, the source said. It's possible the two will split time at right tackle, but that would be unusual. Giants head coach Pat Shurmur apparently didn't make the decision to start Wheeler until late in the week, though coaches had determined that he would play a lot, at the very least.

One concern for the Giants, though, is that by benching Flowers they are now making two changes to an offensive line that has been shaky at best for a road game against a team with a strong defensive front. The Giants were forced to make a switch at center after Jon Halapio fractured his leg and ankle last Sunday night. Veteran Jon Greco will start in his place.

Many have been waiting for the Giants to do something -- anything --with the 24-year-old Flowers, the ninth overall pick of the 2015 draft. Shurmur and new GM Dave Gettleman kept Flowers after they were hired but immediately moved him from left tackle to right to make room for free agent Nate Solder, whom they signed to a four-year, $62 million deal in the offseason. Flowers initially balked at the move and protested by skipping the start of the Giants' offseason training program.

That prompted the Giants to try and trade him around the NFL draft, but they quickly found no takers. The Giants also declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract, making him a free agent after the season.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the 6-6, 334-pound Flowers, wasn't much better at right tackle through the first two games of the season. The entire Giants offensive line was bad, and their blocking overall -- including the fullback, running backs and tight ends -- has been generally abysmal.

With little depth, particularly on the line, there were few personnel moves the Giants could've made, though. Even this one seemed unlikely considering they feel the 6-7, 310-pound Wheeler to be more of a natural left tackle. The Giants gave him extensive snaps at right tackle during training camp this summer, but the results were uneven and as recently as last week offensive line coach Hal Hunter didn't seem to believe he was ready.

With the Giants at 0-2, though, and staring at the very real prospect of a lost season, they felt they had no other choice. Their offense has been terrible through two games, and was particularly putrid in Dallas last Sunday night. The root of it has been the lack of protection for Eli Manning and the poor run blocking for star rookie Saquon Barkley -- particularly on the right side of the line.

The Giants' offense ranks 28th in the NFL and is averaging only 14 points per game.

Flowers is making $2,397,522 in salary this season. The Giants can afford to cut him, but given their lack of depth they are unlikely to do so, even if Wheeler works out perfectly at right tackle. Of course, there is almost no chance that the Giants will re-sign Flowers when he becomes a free agent in March, which means this move potentially could mark the end of his unimpressive career in New York.

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