Fixing the Giants OL, Part 1: The Problem

I'll probably do a few posts on this in the coming days and months as we try to get this thing straightened out before we play another meaningful game.  

Okay, first thing's first.  Why has the OL been so bad for the past few years?  That's really been a combination of things.   First, there's the decline and/or retirement of McKenzie, Seubert, O'Hara, Diehl and Snee (decline only so far).   These were the five basic building blocks of two Super Bowl winners and now all but Snee are retired, and he has been a shadow of his Pro Bowl self for the past few years.

Okay, so that's the foundation of the crisis but there've also been mistakes made in recognition of the crisis, drafting and perhaps plain luck

Between drafting Chris Snee in the second round of the 2004 draft and Justin Pugh in the first round last year, the Giants spent a total of 1 top 3 round pick on an OL, and that was Will Beatty.    Will Beatty was taken with the Giants second second round pick in 2009.  Up until Beatty's poor season last year he had been like part of the solution.   Putting that aside, a colossal error was made with their first second rounder when they took Clint Sintim instead of pro-bowl C to be Max Unger.  

This is something that cannot be adequately explained by the Giants.  As Giant fans know, they have won all of their championships with basically two models of OL's.  The first model we'll call the Mel Hein.   The Mel Hein includes all the lunchpail type guys like Benson, Ard, Williams, Seubert, Snee and that lot.  The other model we'll call the Rosey Brown.   These are basically the guys who are just great athletes for their size.   William Roberts was one, Eric Moore,  I'd argue O'Hara and Oates (as they were more finesse than power), and William Beatty.    So the Beatty selection was a Rosey Brown pick, but in missing out on Unger they completely whiffed on a Mel Hein no-doubter.

And missing on Unger when they did is a huge contributing factor in the demise of the line. Because had they nabbed Unger when they should have they would not have to had hire David Baas, who looks the part of a Mel Hein, but doesn't play the part.   In fact, hiring Baas for too much, then re-doing his contract at least once is not only a huge problem for the line, but a significant issue for the cap.

Whiffing on Unger caused a chain reaction we still might not be able to fix this year.   That my friends, is a HUGE WHIFF and there was no excuse for it.  Clint Sintim was a terrible pick, who didn't fit any of the Giants AA qualifications but did fit their strange predilection for picking pass rush LB's and trying to make them into SAMs, which goes all the way back to Ryan Phillips.  Instead, they should have honored their own winning OL history and picked Unger.

So, that's one thing they did really badly.  Beyond Beatty, every OL they drafted either didn't make the team or couldn't grab a spot.   Whimper looked like he could be a guy.  His name was even Guy.   He was a clear Rosey Brown pick, and looked impressive in the playoffs against Tampa Bay when he had to sub in for Diehl.  But apparently, he was never into practicing like a Giant and has bounced around the league since then.   Mitch Petrus was another big whiff.  And you could tell they thought he was a guy.   Reese used to rave about him, even comparing him to Rich Seubert.  He even looked like he might eventually contribute in his second year, before not being able to make it out of his third camp.

James Brewer is still around, and he was a massive Rosey Brown pick, but has been massively inconsistent, and it's unclear if he takes his job seriously enough.   That's sort of a side issue, but the Giants lost a lot of leadership when the old guys left, and Snee was out with injuries.    The meeting room could not possibly be what it had been.

They envisioned Brandon Mosley as a guy who could play tackle and guard like David Diehl.   Well, so far he has been no David Diehl.  Before getting IR'd as a rookie, he looked bad in the preseason.  Then this year, when they tried him at guard to mixed results, he got hurt again.   He may be headed for his last round-up if the can't contribute in 2014.

Okay, so we've covered the drafting problems.   And they really are inexcusable.  In each draft, most Giant fans can go through the prospects and point out which ones are like the guys we've won with and which ones aren't, but the Giants usually end up passing on them, as they did in the egregious case of Max Unger.

On top of the drafting problem, the Giants have, since Seubert, failed to find another long term fix from the ranks of the undrafted.    Finding Seubert was luck and I think I remember him writing a letter to Mouse McNally about how he had trained himself using a McNally book or video tape.  But we won two Super Bowls because we found Seubert and might have won more without his injuries.  Not being able to find even a top 5 guy from UDFA has made the task ahead of the Giants more daunting.

The Giants have also screwed the pooch in OL free agency.  In the beginning of the Coughlin era they signed O'Hara, then McKenzie.  Both huge piece of the puzzle but since then, no such luck.  Baas, as has been recounted, has looked terrible and had a net negative effect on the OL and the Cap.  In 2010 they made a good pick up with Shawn Andrews who was a total Rosey Brown who could play anywhere but center, but then couldn't renegotiate him and he decided he didn't want to play anymore.   Meanwhile, the Giants haven't found a long term fix in OL FA since McKenzie.   They needed to do better than that to head off this crisis.

So here we are, by overlooking Giant type OL's in drafts, failing to find overlooked guys in UDFA, and not only bumbling the David Baas FA move, but not finding a long term fit in FA since McKenzie, the Giants find themselves where they are today:  fielding an OL full of questions marks.

Due to injuries and personnel issues, I don't think it's necessarily fair to blast Coach Flaherty, but some may be inclined to do just that.  For my money from 2004-2010 Coach Flats proved to be one of the best in the business, and unless they are completely becoming a zone blocking spread O in 2014, I wouldn't think of replacing him.  I would take a good look at who his assistants have been and which ones have produced the best results with him

Tomorrow or later this week I'll start looking at how the Giants can fix it, and whether they currently have any of the solutions on the roster.