Last year, the Giants used their fourth overall pick on left tackle Andrew Thomas, then took tackle Matt Peart in the third round and guard Shane Lemieux in the fifth.
The offensive line was a source of consternation all year – even resulting in part in the exit of line coach Marc Colombo – but none of Big Blue’s 10 picks in this year’s draft were linemen, and last year is part of why.
“I'm encouraged by the guys we have on our roster right now. They are working hard. We don't have them in the building just yet, not all of them, but as we get closer to the mandatory minicamp and training camp, we'll get a feel for them on the grass,” head coach Joe Judge said in the team’s post-draft Zoom Saturday night. “I would say we are always looking to make every position more competitive, but right now we are committed to working with the guys on our roster and approving each one of those guys individually and that should help the unit collectively.”
The three rookies often played together on the offensive line along with Nick Gates, who moved to center last season, and Kevin Zeitler, who is now gone. So, too, is Cam Fleming, who rotated in at tackle, but with Nate Solder returning after opting out of 2020, 2018 second-rounder Will Hernandez and Chris Slade still around inside, and free agent additions Jonotthan Harrison, Zach Fulton, and Kenny Wiggins in the fold, the team is comfortable with their depth.
“You don't want it to be good enough, you want it to be good, plain and simple. It's really apparent that we have a little more confidence in our offensive linemen than you guys do. So I'm just going to say we're happy with the group that we have,” GM Dave Gettleman said. “Obviously you're always trying to get better and you're not going to take a player just to take a player, you take a player because you think he's going to improve the value of your team. Right now, our offensive line is what it is, the players are who they are and we're going to move forward.”
The team did add two undrafted free agents after Saturday’s selection meeting concluded, signing Florida center Brett Heggie and Baylor lineman Jake Burton, but Gettleman intimated that the team did have linemen on their board at various points, but did not get them for one reason or another.
“Whether you draft a position or not has nothing to do with how happy you are with that position,” Gettleman said. “It has everything to do with the draft value at the time you're picking.”
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