O-LINE NOT FORGOTTEN
Giants snag LT Bisnowaty in sixth round
The Giants traded up to get an offensive lineman. It is not exactly what you think. After going through the 2016 NFL Draft without helping their offensive line, the Giants nearly did it again in 2017 as the first five rounds came and went. In the sixth round on Saturday, general manager Jerry Reese moved up seven spots in a trade with the Titans, giving up his seventh-round pick to get Adam Bisnowaty, a left tackle from Pittsburgh.
“We wanted to help the offensive line, but we didn’t want to reach for anybody,’’ Reese said. “We didn’t do that.’’
After taking tight end Evan Engram, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and quarterback Davis Webb the first two days, the Giants attended to needs on the third day of the draft, taking power running back Wayne Gallman from Clemson in the fourth round and defensive end Avery Moss in the fifth.
No one is projecting Bisnowaty, a four-year starter at Pittsburgh, as an immediate threat to compete for playing time at offensive tackle, but at least he is a live body added to the mix at a position group most outsiders believe held the team back last season.
That perception is not necessarily shared within the Giants building.
“We’re not just going to jump over players we feel are better players who can contribute to reach for a perceived position of need,’’ said Marc Ross, the Giants’ vice president of player evaluation.
No doubt, it was “perceived’’ that offensive tackle, with Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart as the starters, both struggled in 2016. Flowers, the 2015 first-round pick, recently turned 23.
“We still have high hopes for Ereck,’’ Ross said. “He’s young, the guy started two years in the NFL and he’s still young, he really should be coming out in this draft, so to say you’re going to throw a guy away for having inconsistencies his first two years in the NFL I don’t think is very fair to Ereck. We think he’s gonna get better, he’s going to take a big jump.’’
The Giants went into this offseason wanting to add power to their offensive backfield and before the draft expressed some interest in veteran LeGarrette Blount. The need or desire to sign Blount was likely mitigated when the Giants picked Gallman, a proven commodity from Clemson.
Gallman is a 6-foot, 214-pound back who in 741 career touches in college fumbled the ball only five times. He was a three-year starter for the Tigers, gaining 1,527 yards in 2015 and 1,113 yards in 2016. He has 34 career touchdowns, including 30 the past two seasons, and could be a nice complement to second-year back Paul Perkins.
“I do whatever it takes to win, and if that means going out passblocking and receiving, I’ll do that,’’ Gallman said. “I’m a hard, physical runner, I believe I have all the aspects in the running game that a running back is supposed to have. I have speed, power, whatever a team needs to get that extra yard.’’
Moss started his college career at Nebraska and ended it at Youngstown. As a 17-year old, Moss in 2012 was convicted of public indecency after he exposed himself twice to a 22-year old student worker. Moss appealed the ban, was denied, eventually dismissed from school and followed his Nebraska coach, Bo Pelini, to Youngstown.
“He had some issues, we think he’s well past those things,’’ Reese said. “We’ll definitely keep our eye on that and if he needs any help with respect to that we’ll definitely help him.’’
While sitting out the suspension in 2014, Moss said he worked in a car dealership in Lincoln, Neb., admitted he was “in a weird space,’’ said he “found my faith’’ and changed his life around.
“I definitely learned from everything,’’ Moss said. “I attended counseling from that incident and am two years graduated from that.’’
When he heard the news he had been drafted by the Giants, Moss was in Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas with his grandmother, who recently suffered a stroke. Moss said his grandmother was awake and alert when he got the call from the Giants. “Once I told her, she cried and I hugged her,’’ Moss said.
After taking Webb in the third round, Ben McAdoo said a day later he had a brief conversation with Eli Manning about the selection. “It was a personal conversation I’m going to leave personal,’’ McAdoo said.