TAMPA – A rare two-day break from the grind of practice last week suited all the Giants in general and one group in particular. It’s been a long season for all concerned, but even longer for the laboring offensive line.
If ever a unit needed to get away from it all, it was the big guys up front. So many problems have sprouted to turn the Giants’ garden into a weed-infested dump, but no problems have been more glaring than the struggles of the line.
“We were making progress and then I think the last two weeks we have really flattened out there, where I don’t think we are playing quite as well,” Jim Fassel said. “As a coach if your team is not making progress, you have to figure out why.”
There’s no great mystery as to why the line continues to be a source of frustration, or why the Giants were greatly concerned with how that group would hold up last night facing the rugged Buccaneers defensive front at Raymond James Stadium.
When left guard Rich Seubert was lost for the season on Oct. 19 to a mangled and badly fractured leg, left tackle Luke Petitgout became far and away the best player remaining on the line. Petitgout, though, has not had a strong season, committing far too many penalties. His dropoff can be blamed either on an achy back or else the added strain of trying to compensate for all the inexperience around him.
Ian Allen at right tackle is in his first year as a starter. Guards David Diehl and Wayne Lucier are rookies selected on the second day of the NFL Draft, a day most often reserved for prospects, not immediate starters. Chris Bober is in his second year as the starting center but was forced to spend five games suffering at right tackle earlier this season.
Last night marked the fifth consecutive game with the Giants’ offensive linemen (from right to left, Allen, Diehl, Bober, Lucier and Petitgout) in the same spots. The results have been far from overwhelming, but at least the continuity after so much early-season maneuvering has settled the unit down.
“I think if you ask anyone out there, they’d rather play with the same five guys for the whole career,” Bober said. “Obviously that hasn’t happened here and I think it’s something they want to address. I can’t speak for them or give them my opinion because that’s their job. They tell me where to play and who to block and that’s what I do.
“Maybe next year or after, if these guys stay around for a long time, we’ll start getting real good.”
That’s the big question for the Giants to resolve. Are the lumps taken by the line this season leading to anything other than misery? This group is young and intelligent and could form a foundation for years to come. Or else it could be merely a stop-gap grouping, thrown together in desperation, destined to be broken up and improved upon next season.
How the unit handled a rough assignment last night, matched against the Bucs, figured to provide additional evidence. There doesn’t seem to be any doubt the Giants will look to upgrade their offensive line, most likely bringing in a youngish veteran or two to either take starting jobs or at the very least provide quality backup insurance. The Giants this season probably threw a game away (vs. the Cowboys back on Sept. 15) because they had to force-feed three rookies into the starting lineup, with predictably grim results.
“The thing I am concerned with is that we’re playing with three really first-year guys in there and at this juncture of the season, this has been the longest season they have ever played,” Fassel said. “Sometimes when you look at those guys, and you always look at the young guys, and you see they have hit the wall, so to speak. I don’t want that to happen.”