Giants O-line Headed in Right Direction Under GM Joe Schoen
Of all the priorities for Giants general manager Joe Schoen to address, probably none were more pressing than the offensive line.
Schoen has done just that. He's added four veteran free agent offensive linemen--Mark Glowinski, Jon Feliciano, Jamil Douglas, and Max Garcia--all of whom are capable of playing anywhere along the interior. That gives the coaching staff much positional flexibility with how they line guys up this coming fall.
“Three of the things that were important to me were starting guard, so we’ve gotten Glowinski and Feliciano,” Schoen told reporters at the league meetings this week.
“(Feliciano has) played center and guard in his career. I think his best position right now in his career is at center. Obviously, having a quarterback of the offensive line and knows the system and familiarity with him. He’s smart, tough, and dependable."
By adding Feliciano to make the line calls, the Giants will lessen some of the load on quarterback Daniel Jones's plate as he learns the new offense. Jones won't necessarily have to worry about making the protection calls, at least not initially, and can focus on ensuring he's reading defenses correctly.
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The addition of the veteran interior depth also buys the Giants a little time to where they can add some younger players into their current pipeline and start grooming them for potential starting roles after the one-year contracts of Feliciano and Douglas expire.
“It’s a daunting task when you start adding in the draft picks and then trying to add replacement cost in-season,” Schoen said.
“It’s hard to operate. Again, it’s always tough to sit on your hands in free agency when you have holes on the team that you’d like to fill. I knew what I was getting into. John (Mara), Steve (Tisch)--they understand what we’re getting into, and Brian Daboll understood what he was getting into.”
The Giants, having signed Mark Glowinski to a multi-year contract, meanwhile have a player who, in addition to left tackle Andrew Thomas, can form the foundation of that offensive line moving forward.
"We’ll continue to build depth as you’ve seen with some of the VSB signings (one-year contracts that give the team a reduced salary cap hit) that we’ve done over the last couple of weeks," he said.
"You’ve got guys that have started games and played meaningful football. The more depth and competition we can create with the resources that we have, I think that’s important. I think we’ve been able to accomplish that.”
Schoen, who isn't finished with rebuilding a roster that last year finished 4-13, has left himself with a great deal of flexibility regarding the upcoming draft.
“That’s the goal,” Schoen said. “We’d like to be in better salary cap health next year for sure versus having to move on from people or cut guys or do any restructures. I’d rather not be in that situation.”
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