Ereck Flowers returns to face Giants at a new position and with a new attitude

Offensive lineman Ereck Flowers was supposed to be the Giants’ long-term answer at left tackle.

Instead, the ninth overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft was the very model of inconsistency, a player who went through three different position coaches and whom the current Giants coaching staff tried to salvage by moving to right tackle last year before finally giving up on him after two games.

In his first three seasons with the Giants, Flowers, per Pro Football Focus, allowed 19 sacks, 34 hits and 124 hurries for a whopping 177 total pressures.

His first two seasons with the Giants also saw him draw double-digits in penalties, with him just barely missing a third straight season in double digits by one.

When Pat Shurmur arrived on the scene last year, the Giants had signed unrestricted free agent Nate Solder to protect the quarterback’s blindside.

Flowers was then moved to right tackle, but not before he staged a protest of sorts by not reporting to the Giants off-season program until nearly a month after it began, a move that irked general manager Dave Gettleman.

When Flowers did report to the Giants, he tried to make a go of it at right tackle, but after two disastrous games, he was benched for undrafted free agent Chad Wheeler before ultimately being dropped from the roster after he seemed to frequently slip back into bad habits with his technique—bending at the waist, dropping his head, lunging at his blocks, and not showing consistent foot placement.

Despite the Giants giving up on him, it didn’t take long for Flowers to find a new home—ironically with Jacksonville, where he was coached by Pat Flaherty, his first offensive line coach in the NFL with whom Flowers once hinted he didn’t quite mesh when the two were in New York.

Fast forward to the present, where Flowers, who signed with Washington in the off-season, is now playing left guard, a position that appears to fit him much better than offensive tackle ever did.

Through three games, Flowers has allowed just five pressures and has drawn only two penalties, the latter coming in Week 1 against the Eagles.

Just finished writing a piece that will be out later today/tomorrow on how Penn and Flowers held up against the Eagles. But wanted to tweet out this clip of Flowers looking for work and helping out Penn, because who doesn't like seeing an OL flooring a DL? pic.twitter.com/jWwzcyNxHs
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) September 10, 2019

More recently, in a loss to the Bears on Monday night, Flowers yielded just one pressure all game long to a defense that features stud pass rusher Khalil Mack

“I think he’s playing hard,” said Shurmur. “I think he’s playing pretty well. He’s kind of a valued member of their offensive line. He’s a big, physical guy. In close quarters, he does a good job of getting his hands on you. That helps you at guard.”

The 25-year-old Flowers has also shown flashes of raw power in run blocking that the Giants had hoped to get out of him. In fact, last week against the Bears Flowers had one of his best run-blocking showings of the young season.

“I just wanted a fresh start,” Flowers told NJ Advance Media when asked about his tenure with the Giants.

“For me, football has been more enjoyable here. I’m just trying to refine my game, get rid of bad habits, and create some good ones, especially at a new position."

He'll get another chance to do so against his old team Sunday.