The New York Giants’ Offensive Line Is Starting To Shape Up

Nov 27, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; New York Giants offensive tackle Ereck Flowers (74) during the third quarter between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Giants won 27-13. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Going into the 2018 season, the offensive line is one of the largest question marks for the New York Giants. It was a major problem last year, and despite offseason changes being made, it’s still unknown how the current group of players will perform once they get on the field together during the season.

Giants offensive tackle Chad Wheeler, however, is already sounding confident about how things are going. “We came together as a team and put a lot of good work on tape. The offensive line has a lot of new faces, but it’s going good. We go out to eat and hang out a lot with each other and joke around. I’m proud to be part of this unit,” he told NJ.com.

Where does Wheeler stand on the New York Giants’ offense line?

Wheeler, however, is the odd man out this season. Most fans expected Ereck Flowers to lose his job as a starting tackle, but Flowers now looks like the apparent right tackle in this season’s lineup. With the newly acquired Nate Solder on the other side, Wheeler and Flowers are competing for the same spot and Flowers was the one to receive snaps during mandatory minicamp.

It’s an interesting turn of events considering earlier reports about Flowers, such as the Giants shopping him during the draft. Wheeler also spoke about the Giants’ second round draft pick, Will Hernandez. “Hernandez definitely is in the spotlight, but I think we’re all getting a little feistier. That’s just how you have to be as an offensive lineman.”

The news of Hernandez taking the spotlight only further confirms the predictions of much of the fanbase, about Hernandez being a year one starter and an immediate impact maker. If we pencil in Hernandez as a starter at guard, either on the left or the right side, it appears that the battle for the other guard position will be between newly signed Patrick Omameh and his competitors such as John Jerry.

With Jerry entering the season at 32 years old, and his average performances in 2017, it wouldn’t be too surprising for the younger Omameh to steal the job before the season starts. We’ll know more about what the week one lineup will look like once the preseason starts, but for now, it looks like the competitions are settling down and some players are emerging over others as the favorites to play often.

We’ll see down the line whether the current predicted lineup is a good or bad thing for the Giants.