It’s too early to tell if draft Daniel Jones or any of the other first-round players selected by the New York Giants will pan out. However, general manager Dave Gettleman has done several important things for the team that has stood out in the wake of Jerry Reese’s abysmal ways.
Gettleman has helped find a quarterback to succeed Eli Manning, he’s rebuilt the secondary, drafted electric running back Saquon Barkley, and established a new success-oriented culture to help fuel the organization for years to come.
What’s the New York Giants GM’s biggest achievement so far:
Looking past the positives mentioned above, his greatest achievement so far has been the rebuild of the offensive line. Considering just two years ago the line featured Ereck Flowers, Bobby Hart, and John Jerry, it couldn’t be more clear what Gettleman has done for this unit.
Signing a solid left tackle in Nate Solder, drafting a potential Pro Bowl left guard in Will Hernandez, finding Jon Halapio fighting for his life to remain on an NFL team — he played well before breaking his leg early on in 2018. He traded for Pro Bowl-caliber right guard Kevin Zeitler, and has now found a viable replacement for Chad Wheeler in Mike Remmers.
Even if the offensive front looks far better on paper, the Giants are in better shape in regards to the line than they have been in years. This has been Gettleman’s biggest influence by far since his inception last season — considering he turned over this unit with minimal cap-space in just two offseasons has been impressive.
Why the offensive line was such a priority:
Now, to be fair, Reese allocated plenty of resources towards the offensive line – drafting Justin Pugh, Flowers, Weston Richburg, Hart… all of which ended up performing at a below-average level. Richburg and Pugh went on to suck, for lack of a better term, on their current teams.
So, in conclusion, Reese was just terrible at evaluating talent for the most part.
One of the more clear deficiencies on the offense has been Eli Manning, but it was primarily the offensive line’s fault. If you’ve ever seen Manning play, you know he needs time to work through his progressions and operate at a high level. He hasn’t had that luxury in years, and with father time catching up to him, it’s essential he receives that support in 2019. The rebuild of the line should offer him that, and we might see a newborn Manning if everything goes to plan.