MYLES TO GO
Flowers gets chance to prove he’s not weak link in title hopes
CLEVELAND — It shouldn’t be Odell Beckham Jr. who attracts the most eyeballs during his preseason debut in the Giants’ second preseason game Monday night in Cleveland.
There will be plenty of occasions during the regular season when the 13th Wonder of the World will make a one-handed or gravity-defying catch, or take a slant to the house, so what every Giants fan wants from Beckham more t han anything is avoiding injury during his one quarter or so with Eli Manning. The microscope belongs squarely on Ereck Flowers.
It is too simplistic to suggest that one man who does not play quarterback can render a franchise’s Super Bowl dreams shattered in tiny pieces.
But it is fact that if the Giants still cannot run the ball, if Manning does not have the time to get the ball to the best receiving corps he has ever had, there will be no Supe for you, New York.
Either Flowers finally blossoms into the player the Giants won’t stop professing he will be, or there is an undeniable danger that the bloom will be off the Big Blue rose.
Giants fans should have more faith by now that Flowers can do his job than Jets fans have that Christian Hackenberg can do his. But most of them don’t.
It is clearly time for Flowers to reward the Giants for making him the ninth pick of the 2015 draft and sticking with him through his well-documented travails.
All through the spring and summer, we have heard about Flowers’ commitment, and his improved footwork and conditioning. He has had his good days that offer hope, and bad days that bring consternation.
His battle against defensive end Myles Garrett, the first overall pick, on Monday night will be a referendum on his progress.
Ben McAdoo wants Flowers, a mountainous man of few words, to talk loudly with his shoulder pads and begin once and for all pancaking critics eager to brand him a bust.
It is still premature to reach the conclusion he is a bust.
If the Giants feared he was a lost cause, they would not have still entrusted him with Manning’s blindside.
Remember, there was no trade for Joe Thomas, there was no free-agent signing of Andrew Whitworth or Russell Okung. Remember, the draft that gifted Odell Beckham Jr. with the 12th pick saw left tackle Taylor Lewan go to the Titans with the 11th pick.
Remember, Eli Apple was the 10th pick of the 2016 draft because the Titans traded up to make right tackle Jack Conklin the eighth pick. In Mike Solari, Flowers has a respected offensive line coach he trusts.
In Garrett, he has an impressive rookie talent who can be schooled by a more experienced opponent.
Here was Jerry Reese the night he drafted Flowers:
“He’s just a big, tough guy. That’s one of the things when you talk to the coaches down [at Miami], it’s like this guy doesn’t take any crap from anybody. We like that and you can see that in his play. He likes to finish guys off and that kind of fits the offensive profile that we like. We like some big, tough guys with a little bit of a nasty streak.” And: “Obviously, he’s a gigantic human being, and he played at a high level of competition. We think this can help solidify the offensive line, so hopefully this will settle the offensive line down and we don’t have to keep talking about the offensive line as much.”
Alas, everyone is still talking about the offensive line, with Flowers the lightning rod.
A Super season could hang in the balance unless — and until — it stops.