Giants must check all boxes for O-line

The Giants seemingly upgraded their offensive line in free agency, especially at guard. But they still have needs up front, starting with a position that crippled their offense last season:

Swing tackle.

They need a player who can capably back up left tackle Andrew Thomas and whoever is starting at right tackle, whether it’s Evan Neal or Jermaine Eluemunor.

“You need a swing tackle,” NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger, a former pro lineman, told the Daily News. “Andrew got hurt in the first series of the season last year and they didn’t have one. You need somebody who can swing. I know Evan can’t. So who is gonna be your swing guy if that happens again?”

There is skepticism among NFL sources that the Giants will use their No. 6 overall first-round pick on a lineman, considering the team’s quarterback pursuit and this draft’s high-end receiver talent.

The draft’s top tackle, Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, also is more of a true left tackle where the Giants already have Thomas. And new tackle/guard Jermaine Eluemunor is not exactly being paid like a backup at two years and $14 million. He could very well end up starting at right tackle.

But there is a consensus that the Giants need to use one of their picks on a developmental tackle and that GM Joe Schoen is looking to add some youth and reinforcements at guard, too.

“I think you want to draft a young tackle, somewhere in the third to fifth round, to be developmental and not ask him to start right away. And eventually he can step in and play,” said former NFL lineman Jeremiah Sirles, an agent for the One West Sports Group who represents Giants center John Michael Schmitz.

“They’ve definitely upgraded at guard, but last year they had to pull tackles off practice squads of other teams,” Sirles added. “You want to have internal options ready to go, another young swing guy and maybe another veteran swing guy. There’s some keep depth pieces that need to be brought in so you have eight or nine guys that you fully trust to not have a huge dropoff.”

Sirles also noted that Schoen is “looking to get younger” on the line in general.

With that in mind, Alex Beglinger, an NFL agent at Disruptive Sports who coached Bears left tackle Braxton Jones at Southern Utah, has earmarked two tackles he believes could fill the Giants’ developmental swing tackle need at their third-round pick at No. 70 overall:

Missouri’s Javon Foster and Yale’s Kiran Amegadjie.

“Foster is a right tackle in the league, in my opinion,” Beglinger said. “He’s a three-year starter in the SEC. And if the Giants aren’t in a rush for the guy to play, the kid from Yale is a sleeper pick. The one thing that concerns you is the level of competition, but he has some length and when you talk about body types, you’re looking at that.”

Beglinger said he wouldn’t use a first or second-round pick on a tackle because the depth at the position in this draft is good. He knows the Giants already signed veteran Matt Nelson, 28, who played for the Detroit Lions, but doesn’t trust the converted defensive lineman to be the answer.

The Giants recently hosted University of British Columbia left tackle Giovanni Manu on a pre-draft visit, too, reinforcing that Schoen is scouring the later rounds and priority free-agent areas for those types of players.

Baldinger echoed that he “wouldn’t use the sixth pick on an offensive tackle” but said this is a “great draft for tackles” and “there’s eight who could go in the first round.”

If the Giants were to use their second-round pick on a guard, though, Baldinger said one player stands out to him at No. 47 overall: 6-3, 322-pound Kansas State left guard Cooper Beebe.

“You watch him against Texas against really good players, and he just stands in front of them and they don’t get by him,” Baldinger said. “He’s a starting guard in this league. (Second-round pick) Steve Avila went in immediately last season and helped the Rams starting at left guard. I feel like Beebe’s that guy this year.”

Howie Roseman and the Eagles, in fact, hold picks No. 50 and 53 in the second round. And Baldinger said: “I can’t see the Eagles not taking (Beebe) if he’s available at one of those picks.”

Baldinger does believe “you can find starting guards in the fourth round,” too, or at least a quality reserve. The News asked Baldinger to look at the tape of Illinois right tackle Isaiah Adams, for example. He said Adams is “tough” and could be a “solid backup,” and he might have starter potential with “a lot of patience and work.”

The Giants clearly need a tackle for both the present and future, however, while continuing to reinforce their interior at guard.

With that in mind, the Daily News polled two trusted draft experts, Emory Hunt (CBS Sports, Football Gameplan) and Tony