How History Has Repeated Itself in the Giants’ Roster Building Process: The O-line

Like Jerry Reese, his predecessor, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman’s heart has always been in the right place regarding the decisions he’s made on behalf of the New York Giants.

And while Gettleman, like Reese, made a fair amount of smart moves that have paid off handsomely for the franchise. 

For example, Reese’s 2007 draft class was a big key in the organization winning the Super Bowl that year, while Gettleman set up the team nicely for next year's draft after making some sound moves this past spring. Still, there are some significant areas in which history has repeated itself in each general manager's tenure.

In Part 1 of this three-part breakdown, we look at the most glaring similarities of all: the offensive line rebuild.

Under Reese

Reese, who benefitted from the offensive line that his predecessor, Ernie Accorsi, put together, struck gold when David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee, and Kareem McKenzie became a powerhouse that dominated through the 2009 season.

The problem, though, is that Reese waited too long to begin building for the future on that unit, something former offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride spoke of.

Our offensive line started to disintegrate. To be honest with you, I was fighting for that (rebuilding the offensive line) from 2010 on. You saw in 2008 we were still really good, 2009 we started to get a bit nicked up. By 2010 it was already starting to decline.

Despite Gilbride’s pleas, Reese spent one draft pick a fifth-rounder on interior offensive lineman Mitch Petrus in 2010, a fourth-rounder on tackle James Brewer in 2011, and a fourth- and sixth-rounder on tackles Brandon Mosley and Matt McCants. 

The Giants began investing more premium picks in the unit, starting with the drafting of Justin Pugh in the first round of the 2013 draft and the selection of interior offensive lineman Weston Richburg in the second round the following year.

Those Day 3 draft picks? Not a single one ended up working out, some due to talent and others due to circumstances. The Giants also were undecided on where to play Pugh, a college tackle who kicked inside to guard. Due to a lack of depth, they were also forced to play Richburg, a center by trade, at guard as a rookie when injuries struck.

In short, the Giants’ offensive line situation from 2012 onward has struggled to achieve stability, a fact that carried through to the Gettleman regime.

Under Gettleman

In 2018, his first year at the helm, Gettleman was forced to overspend on Nate Solder to play left tackle after Ereck Flowers, a first-round pick by Reese, didn’t pan out.

Also, in 2018, Gettleman became so infatuated with Penn State running back Saquon Barkley that he might as well have rented a billboard in Times Square announcing his intention to draft Barkley with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. Gettleman might have figured Barkley would help an aging Eli Manning from having to throw the ball 600 times for a fourth straight year.

When that plan went up in smoke—Barkley was outstanding in his rookie year, but Manning, who still had to throw the ball and operate behind a makeshift offensive line, took another beating—Gettleman once again went in a different direction rather than adding offensive linemen early on. 

Instead, he waited until the first of his two seventh-round picks when he selected Kentucky tackle George Asaf-Adjei in that round, a player who barely got on the field for the team before suffering a season-ending concussion and who was then released the following off-season.

By 2020, Gettleman began to address the offensive line the right way, adding three premium draft picks (tackle Andrew Thomas in the first round, tackle Matt Peart in the third round, and guard Shane Lemieux in the fifth).

In trying to evaluate Daniel Jones, the Giants did him no favors by not having a decent and experienced offensive line in place to give the young quarterback the best possible chance for success.

Gettleman also mirrored a Reese move when in 2021, he put all his eggs in the basket of an offensive line configuration of Thomas, Lemieux, center Nick Gates, right guard Will Hernandez, and Peart. The plan was to let the kids plan and have some veterans such as Nate Solder, Jonotthan Harrison, and Zach Fulton back them up.

The problem with that plan is that Harrison didn’t pan out (he's now on injured reserve), Fulton retired, and Solder was named the starting right tackle after Peart struggled.

Add in the injuries to Lemieux, which necessitated the signing of Joe Looney (who along with Fulton later retired), and then the in-season injuries to Gates and Thomas, the Giants’ failure to have some young, fresh legs along the offensive line is a big reason why the team had to execute two trades (with Cincinnati and Baltimore) to find depth along this critical unit.

After this season, the Giants' offensive line stands to be in a state of flux again. There is no guarantee that Gates will return from a severely broken leg. Hernandez will be an unrestricted free agent, and Solder’s contract voids after this year.

The Giants are taking a flier on former Titans first rounder Isaiah Wilson who will potentially challenge for the right tackle spot, which would leave Peart as the potential swing tackle. Still, the continued questions along the interior with no apparent answers will almost certainly make offensive line a top priority next off-season.

Tomorrow: Part 2: The Salary Cap

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