When Jerry Reese decided to cut Luke Petitgout two months ago, the Giants jumped into the boat with teams looking to upgrade at left tackle -- that covers an awful lot of teams, and there are simply not a lot of top prospects at the position.
Who they'd like: Joe Staley, C. Michigan. He's a converted tight end, he's a big boy (6-6, 306) and he has some quickness. The consensus seems to be, though, that he might not be able to step in and start right away, and the Giants already have a project at LT in Guy Whimper.
Who they're likely to get at 20: Staley will be there; Penn State's Levi Brown might be there too, but if he is, it means that a dozen or so teams decided to pass. Only Wisconsin's Joe Thomas will be off the board.
Who I thought they'd take before I started paying attention: Well, no one -- I assumed, and Jerry Reese pointed this out the other day, that the Giants already have a LT on the roster who has won a game in David Diehl. TC apparently didn't agree, and Diehl may end up being a better guard.
Who might be there later on: Arkansas' Tony Ugoh, N. Illinois' Doug Free, BC's James Marten.
Comments (6)
I dont think they need a LT. If diehl can play good for a year or maybe even two i think whimper can develop into a solid LT. he is big and athletic. they will be fine. i would like to see them draft Josh Beekman form BC, be is went to my highschool, Amsterdm. And i grew up with him, he has worked hard and deserves a shot. maybe in the 3rd or 4th
I really wish they kept Petitgout just one more season. His injury can't have been all that bad.. the Bucs are considering starting him.
You have to be crazy not to draft the best OT available in round 1. Like George Young used to say, "there are just so many big men (OL) available". So the Giants need to pick a "dancing elephant" like Joe Staley in round 1. Otherwise, Eli may never make it to game 5 and Anthony Wright or Jared Lorenzen may be our starting QBs for most of 2007.
I really like Joe Staley. I know some fans think he's no different from Whimper since they're both converted TEs to OT but Staley has rose up in a much better draft class than Whimper. People who really thought he had a future as our LT need to get their heads examined.
Levi Brown isn't a LT IMO. He seemed lazy at times in the college games I saw.
Personally I'm happy Luke's gone. I don't want a question mark at one of the most important positions in the NFL. Wish him luck, but we needed a change.
George Young said that about 50 years ago, when there wasnt that many big men. Now there is multiple 6-5 310 pounders at every school in the nation.
Diehl is a very good guard so lets not screw up his career by putting him in a position to fail. The Giants need a young LT with size who can protect Manning which Diehl did not do last year. Without a solid LT, Manning will digress again. Just remember that Manning went from 6-2 to 2-6 without a solid LT. I hope the GM is not that stupid when the rest of us see the simple statistics.