Loading ...“Remember when you point a finger three are pointing back at you” – Mark Schlereth
Undervalued, underrated, underestimated are all ways to describe how real football fans feel about the guys with their knuckles in the grass. If you know football, you know that an offense is only as good as the line it sends out there. With an anemic, porous line, your ball carriers get gobbled up on the run, and the quarterback is overwhelmed on the pass. As long as you have an explosive offense, it is easy to get obsessed with the QB, RB’s, and WR’s and attribute most of their success to those great talents. The truth is that those players might as well be rendered inconsequential without the steady help that they get from their O-lines. It is absolutely an undervalued, thankless job to be an O-lineman in the NFL.
Imagine lining up as a running back or a wide receiver in the NFL. You yearn for the gratification that you could receive on this next play. The opportunity that you have on almost every snap to hit that hole that springs you sixty, or to break that tackle in the flats to take it to the house is a feeling that keeps you motivated every time you break from the huddle. The attitude of a guard, center, or tackle is a much more pathological one. These warriors line up with one purpose: to maim, pound, and embarrass the opponent in front of them. To open up a hole big enough so that it enables another guy to get on Sportscenter – to pancake a guy on a screen so that a teammate 1/3 his size can dart past and get himself another TD. These guys pride themselves on jelling together to form a pocket just tight enough so that a guy named the “field general” can bomb it downfield for a TD and then get a phone call on the sidelines to tell him what a good job he is doing. Recognition is not a part of the blueprint for a lineman. Maybe they get shown on TV once or twice, sitting together, going over their non-verbal cues or looking over photos of the defense in order to achieve as close to a synchronized performance as possible. I can’t imagine any other reason for motivation other than a pathological, nasty one.
For the past few years, the New York Giants have had five of the best in the business filling this role. David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee, and Karem McKenzie have formed the most consistent line in football over the past four seasons. So let’s give some love to our boys in Blue who have made our terrific running game possible:
2005: Sixth in the NFL with 2,209 yards – 138.1 yards per game
2006: Seventh in the NFL with 2,156 yards – 134.8 yards per game
2007: Fourth in the NFL with 2,148 yards – 134.3 yards per game
2008: First in the NFL with 1,520 yards – 168.9 yards per game (through week 10)
The Giants Offensive Line – Players, stats, and noteworthy material:
David Diehl – 160th Overall Pick in 2003
- Started 86 out of 86 games in his Giants career.
- 1 out of 93 NFL players to start every game since 2003
- First since 1978 to start all games in his first 5 years.
- Played right guard, right tackle, left guard, and left tackle
- Never has missed a practice
Rich Seubert – Signed by NYG as Rookie FA in 2001
- Second longest tenured Giant (A. Toomer)
- 48 starts out of 65 games
- Has played special teams, left tackle, left guard, center, right tackle, and a second TE
- Suffered severe leg fracture in 2003 which forced him to miss the rest of that season and all of 2004. Seubert returned in 2005
- Was ruled the “ineligible receiver” in the controversial last play in the San Fran meltdown of 2002
- Became a fan favorite by having to be formally announced as “No. 69 has reported as an eligible receiver”. This happens about 20 times a game when he is used in that capacity
Shaun O’Hara – Signed (Cleveland) as undrafted FA in 2000. Signed by NYG in 2004
- Started 103 out of 119 games
- Has started 93 the last 93 games in which he’s played
- Has played special teams, left guard, center, right guard, tackle, second TE
- One of the team captains
- Considered a Prowl Bowl shoe-in for 2008
Chris Snee – 34th Overall Pick in 2004
- Started all 65 games in which he has played for the Giants
- 48 consecutive regular season starts – third longest streak behind David Diehl (80) and Eli Manning (55)
- Has only played right guard
- Selected last year as an second alternate to the NFC Pro Bowl squad
- Is married to the offspring of Coughlin – that’s a tough first date to ask for
- Was an all-state defensive player in high school recording 43 sacks in 3 years (101 tackles in senior year)
- Considered a Prowl Bowl shoe-in for 2008
Kareem McKenzie – 79th Overall Pick in 2001 (Jets). Signed by NYG in 2005
- Has started in 103 of the 111 games in which he has played
- In first 3 seasons with the Jints, KM started all 45 regular season games
- Has played right tackle, second TE
- Has blocked for two separate 24,000 yard running backs (Curtis Martin & Tiki Barber)
Looking at the above, the words versatility and consistency come to mind. These are reasons why I believe the Giants are the best offensive line in football. My top lines are
- New York Giants
- Tennessee Titans
- New England Patriots
- New Orleans Saints
- San Diego Chargers
- Indianapolis Colts
- Atlanta Falcons
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Cleveland Browns
After the Browns, there is a drop-off in quality. Keeping with the recent past, the Giants O-line is spear-heading quite possibly the most prolific Giants running attack in their 83 year history. Through week 10, the production is as follows:
Brandon Jacobs: 806 yards, 9 TD’s
Derrick Ward: 490 yards, 1 TD
Ahmad Bradshaw: 205 yards, 1 TD
We are averaging nearly 167 rushing yards per game. At this pace, we are projected to finish with a total 2,668 yards. To give some perspective on that number, the 1978 Chiefs are in third place all time for most team rushing yards in one season with 2,986.
No need to expound on this. Without these guys, the Giants might be an afterthought in the 2008 season.
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Dan Murphy said:**UPDATE UP TOP**November 14, 2008 8:01 AM ~~~~~~~~~~~~That sound you hear is KD’s head hitting the floor after passing out.
Couldn’t agree more. It would do us good to sign up Grey Ruegamer for C/G depth. He’s 32 and going UFA. And I’m not completely sold on Wimper/Koets/Boothe, but no complaints.A good FO takes care of the lines.
The 1978 Chiefs by the way were only the 2ND best rushing team in the NFL that year. The Patriots rushed for 3165 yards that year. Yes, you read that correctly … 3165 yards. They averaged 198 freakin’ yds/game on 4.7 yds/carry. They had 5 guys with over 500 yards, and another just under 400:Sam Cunningham – 768 Andy Johnson – 675Horace Ivory -693 Steve Grogan – 539 Don Calhoun – 391
I’ve been wondering what they plan to do with Robert Henderson next year. It seems to me that we’re almost certainly going to draft a DL fairly high. Adding that to the already crowded mix would seem to spell the end of Henderson. But why then would they have put him on IR if they didn’t have some sort of strategy?I’m thinking he may play LB. Yeah, sounds crazy… but I think Kiwi has showed so much value that he’s going back to his original position. And sure… we’re drafting a LB too in 2009. But Henderson could still possibly be the big situational pass rushing LB… sort of what Kiwi was supposed to be.Anyway, to see if I could develop this theory I researched his college record. Apparently he started out as an OLB… and played primarily the “bandit” position (LB/Safety hybrid)… though technically considered a DE. Just a thought, but we could have this guy all wrong.
As the years go on and Suebert gets older I see DD moving back into his natuaral G position as the Giants draft a solid left Tackle in the top of the draft. I bet that happens either in the ’09 draft or the 2010 draft. I love DD but I eventually see the Giants upgrading at LT as the DE’s around the league get more and more athletic.
Good column on Blackburn:http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/giants/ny-spgiants145926377nov14,0,3394240.story”He’s a guy who you can plug in anywhere,” Pierce said of the former understudy who is now his wingman. “He’s one of those core guys that you need. I’ve been on teams where you had nothing but superstars and you don’t win. But those are the guys who make your team work.”
Ed Reed and Derrick Mason did not practice again yesterday for the Ravens
Dan, excellent piece, and with a nice few bits of wit thrown in. I’m glad to see you survived the lionization of Mr. Favre last night. Get used to it. If the Jets are in the hunt the Favre story will be one of the hot topics all season. And I, for one, am happy about that. You know why? Because it’s going to keep a chip on the shoulder of the “real” occupants of Giants Stadium, who will see all the national media attention shift away from them as they steadily work away at the #1 seed in the NFC and notice that they’re still only considered the second biggest football story in New York.Given the status of the various defensive backs for Sunday I believe that you will all see why I was against releasing RW.Don’t be surprised if he winds up on the field at either cornerback or safety.Krow, interesting thoughts on Henderson. I agree that it is a possibility that they see him as a hybrid and could consider using him at SAM. All I know is they must think pretty highly of him because almost every low-round draftee who gets hurt in the NFL gets cut. He was the exception.I can’t remember who it was who was so high on Mayo before the last draft, but he should take a bow. That kid can really play. I hope the Giants can pick up a linebacker in this draft as good as he is, but that may be a high hurdle. But given the chance to do it again, I would still draft Kenny Phillips if I were choosing between the two of them. There are more potential great linebackers around than there are great safeties. And I would STILL draft another safety (Can Chancellor please) with our first pick next April, but I’ll trust Reese/Ross to make the right decisions.
One clarification regarding RW. I don’t expect him to start, but would not be at all surprised if he winds up playing some. We are definitely one injury away from his having to really contribute.
What do you think about a rule that would eliminate FG attempts on a team’s first possession in OT?