Jason Garrett said it: The Giants’ offensive line rebuild is not close to where it needs to be.
Garrett did not build the roster. He does not set the philosophy of the franchise. He installed a system and he makes the play calls as the offensive coordinator. Â
Judging from how Garrett helped shape the Cowboys as their head coach for a decade, it comes as no surprise this is his view of team-building:
“Football starts upfront in the run game and in the pass game,’’ Garrett said Thursday. “It’s about offensive and defensive linemen. The best teams have built their teams that way. That goes back through history. The game is won on the line of scrimmage.’’
With the Cowboys, Garrett put in motion the assemblage of a great offensive line. In his 25 games with the Giants, it has been a struggle to find five capable bodies to protect the quarterback and open running lanes.
This is what Garrett said of this year’s hodgepodge Giants line:
“We’ve had some guys, different combinations of guys playing and it’s our job to try to create an environment where they can have some success.’’
Creating an environment for success is another way of saying the offensive approach must be streamlined to take into account all this line cannot do well. Injuries, lack of depth and players who have not progressed as expected are all reasons why the offensive line continues to be a primary concern.
This is a far cry from what Garrett was accustomed to. As the head coach in Dallas for 10 years, Garrett had the luxury of directing an offense that was fueled by what developed into the best offensive line in the league. The Cowboys used first round picks on Tyron Smith, Zach Martin and Travis Frederick and all three turned into stars.
The Giants did not come close to that talent import with the drafting of Justin Pugh (first round), Ereck Flowers (first round) and Weston Richburg (second round), setting the franchise back. The group they will use Monday night in Tampa is made up of a collection of players mostly patched together to fill holes.
“It’s just part of where we are,’’ Garrett said. “We’re trying to rebuild the team and that’s a process. It was a process for us in Dallas at different times. You have to make the decisions to say ‘OK, we’re gonna allocate this resource because this is important to us.’
“We did that time and time again and all of a sudden you built a really powerful, strong offensive line that’s still going today. They’re really good players, cornerstone players. That’s what you have to do, and in the meantime you have to somehow, someway create an environment with the guys you have. The guys we have here have done a helluva job, coming to work every day, practicing and doing everything they can to complete as well as they can on Sundays.’’
Asked if the Giants have any cornerstone pieces on their offensive line, Garrett mentioned only one player.
“Yeah, we’re in the process of doing that,’’ he said. “Certainly we allocated a big resource to draft Andrew Thomas, I think we’ve all seen his progression. He’s gonna be a helluva football player for a long time. He’s one of those guys.’’
Thomas is trying to come back from foot and ankle injuries that kept him out of four of the past five games. Without him, the Giants start Matt Peart and Nate Solder at the tackles, Will Hernandez and Matt Skura at the two guard spots and Billy Price at center. Price and Skura were added to fill the void left behind by the season-ending injuries to Nick Gates and Shane Lemieux.