Looking at the OL now, how worried are you about center?

Is he tough as a boot?

In comment 14443494 BigBlueDownTheShore said:

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draft. A tackle would have made sense as they could have played him at RT and if he was skilled enough, move him to RT. We are going to be back to having 3 major holes on the offensive lines in a year or 2. We need an influx of young grown talent now. Center was also a position that could have been drafted this past draft that there was an abundance of great talent.

Agree. Its early, but as of now next off-season the team should be looking at OL/ER/WR and blocking TE

In comment 14443502 Greg from LI said:

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league.....by off the top of my head naming four that are head and shoulders better. You're quite the logician.

You conveniently left out “possibly” ... as in “1 of the best G tandems in the league with the potential to be best”

So yes, by underestimating Zeitler, completely dismissing Hernandez, and assuming DAL/CLE guards will automatically play well ... you still managed to only name 4 tandems that might be better.

Here’s a thought ... Zeitler is already an elite guard and maybe this guy linked below actually (gasp) gets better ...

https://mobile.twitter.com/pff_giants/status/1000104969331130368


Who’s that LG blocking for Saquon? - ( New Window )

In comment 14443514 Beer Man said:

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In comment 14443494 BigBlueDownTheShore said: Quote: draft. A tackle would have made sense as they could have played him at RT and if he was skilled enough, move him to RT.

RT should have been LT. Meaning we draft a guy to play RT day 1 and if he is good enough transition him to LT.

due to get a little lucky with a guy on the OL. It's time to find a guy that wasn't highly touted coming out of college or a top of the line expensive FA pick-up to be solid.
It's been awhile since Deihl, Seibert, McKenzie ...

He is a powerful dude and that's always been his strength going back to college.

From that perspective at least, the line will be leaps and bounds better with him, Hernandez, and now Zeitler.

In comment 14443532 Dnew15 said:

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due to get a little lucky with a guy on the OL. It's time to find a guy that wasn't highly touted coming out of college or a top of the line expensive FA pick-up to be solid. It's been awhile since Deihl, Seibert, McKenzie ...

Free agency next year may be our answer (Collins, Williams) although I’ll gladly take another Diehl-type late rounder

I actually like the C position’s potential, especially O’Hagan

The Giants possibly have the best guard tandem in the NFL!

is the weakest link on the line right now.

In comment 14443378 Beezer said:

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In comment 14443064 AcesUp said: Quote: But I think we'll be better at C than we will at RT. I don't really see either position as gaping holes, just large question marks backed by quality depth. Hernandez is a guy that I'm not taking for granted either, there are plenty of examples of promising young rookies that do not progress or even regress. This line really needs him to step up and for Solder to continue his momentum from last season. That's probably a bigger key to success than what level of mediocre the bargain types are. Not a chance Hernandez regresses. Zero chance.

Yeah!

Signed,
All-Rookie Team Member Justin Pugh.



Young players only ever improve, right?

So they suxed despite very promising rookie seasons. Dave Gettleman only drafts awesome stars!

about defense and Remmers staying healthy. If the center sucks badly enough DG will find a new one like he did when he pulled the plug on Patrick Omameh.

gives us one of the better pairings at G in the NFL.

Mostly because Center is the position that requires the most mental capabilities of any of th elineman. So far Halapio hasn't shown that he has that. It won't matter how good the rest of the players are if he is calling blocking schemes that have 3 vs. 2 on one side, and 2 vs 3 on the other (which I saw him do several times in the 2 games he played). Those kind of mental mistakes settled down with Greco and Pulley... At least then the suckitude of the line was based on the players skills and not being out of position.

- Zeitler 6, Hernandez 21
- Peat 77, Warford 31
- Williams 52, Martin 2
- Foster 16, DeCastro 11


Weird ... it’s like logic, reasoning, direct observation , and advanced analytics support my claim of the Giants having a top G tandem that could quite possibly end up the best tandem in football.

No way Hernandez actually improves in year 2 or Zeitler gets more notoriety now that he’s playing in NY instead of CIN/CLE ... no way

if he could have done that he'd still be here. He was an effective player when he played, which is why he got a good sized contract. So a little odd to make him the example of performance regression when his main issue isn't performance it's that he still can't stay on the field to perform.

Among G's via PFF Hernandez was #21 last year and Zeitler #6 but most importantly both started 16 games, which is something Zeitler has done 4 straight years and Hernandez did every year in college. I can't imagine anyone would argue against those 2 being far and away the best guard combo we've had since Snee/Seubert. Which is almost 10 years ago already. So...progress.

Generally the teams with the best players try to keep them. I don't know who else is on the list of top 10-20 guards, but I'd imagine not that many others higher ranked than ours have changed teams in the last 18 months. Decastro hasn't, Martin hasn't, Yanda hasn't, Scherff hasn't, etc. Probably just Norwell via FA and Nelson via draft. Same is probably true of LT's (and Solder, who was ranked #21 this past year). This OL may be far from a top unit but it's also far from what it was when Gettleman arrived with Flowers/Hart bookending the tackles, undersized Brett Jones at C, and John jerry being the most reliable G on the team.

Pulley was pretty bad early but he really solidified his play as the year wore on, as did most everyone on offense. If he's not beating out Pio, which he may we are in good shape either way.

In comment 14443846 Joey in VA said:

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Pulley was pretty bad early but he really solidified his play as the year wore on, as did most everyone on offense. If he's not beating out Pio, which he may we are in good shape either way.

Am I crazy for thinking that center is the most important position on the line?

In comment 14443861 Go Terps said:

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In comment 14443846 Joey in VA said: Quote: Pulley was pretty bad early but he really solidified his play as the year wore on, as did most everyone on offense. If he's not beating out Pio, which he may we are in good shape either way. Am I crazy for thinking that center is the most important position on the line?

Yeah, I agree with you, or at least say it it very close with LT... But Shhh.... Saying that will bring a serious round of heckling. At least that what has happened to me.

In comment 14443861 Go Terps said:

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In comment 14443846 Joey in VA said: Quote: Pulley was pretty bad early but he really solidified his play as the year wore on, as did most everyone on offense. If he's not beating out Pio, which he may we are in good shape either way. Am I crazy for thinking that center is the most important position on the line?

Nope. Dave-Te' Thomas has said the same thing many times.

In comment 14443861 Go Terps said:

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In comment 14443846 Joey in VA said: Quote: Pulley was pretty bad early but he really solidified his play as the year wore on, as did most everyone on offense. If he's not beating out Pio, which he may we are in good shape either way. Am I crazy for thinking that center is the most important position on the line?

No you aren't wrong, he's the lynchpin essentially but Pulley played well down the stretch with a nightmare on his right side. Better players around an OL has a domino effect, it's the weakest link in the chain idea. Granted we went 1-3 in our last 4 but we had good offensive games save Tennessee. We ran well, Eli was protected better and our offense clicked. I would like to see an upgrade sure, but we are so full of holes it's ridiculous. The roster and OL keeps improving and we'll see what happens at center. I for one like what I saw from Halapio and Pulley after he settled in. Most disagree but I think Halapio can play.

I have decided to trust them so I have no worries about this position. If I can’t trust a GM who has a solid history building olines and a HC who was a college center, then I am not sure what to trust with the team. They seem to like their centers for now so I do too. What will be most telling is if they draft one high next year which would show they were talking up this year’s players but really just didn’t have the chance to upgrade.

After mini camp, they may get a better take on whether or not to bring in more competition at center. The only one out there who appears to be an option is Sullivan. So maybe they might try to get him at a vet minimum to come in and compete.

that as an O-Line we still have a lot of room for improvement. Pulley wasn't the best but in a pinch he fared better than we could've hoped. Halapio is the coach's choice and not just for his strength which is prodigious but Shurmur an ex center, is confident he can do the job. While exploring options, adding competition can only help in developing both players. As a whole, a big shout out to DG. True northeasterner. He's not going to let dissenting outside influences deter him from his mandate. Trying to rebuild a roster and remain competitive cannot be easy. 1 more year good draft and quality FA signings and we can challenge for the playoffs and eventually the SB.