Flaherty returns as Giants seek to overhaul O-line

Don’t misinterpret the Giants’ priority to add offensive weapons this offseason as complacency with their offensive line.

The search for a true No. 1 receiver for quarterback Daniel Jones is only one part of improving the league’s 31st ranked offense.

The offensive line still isn’t good enough. And just because the Giants have used high draft picks on O-linemen the last few years doesn’t mean they’ve fixed it.

That process is underway, but it’s incomplete.

“Listen,” former O-line coach Dave DeGuglielmo said heading into the regular-season finale. “There’s a lot invested in a quarterback. And we need to keep him safe. That’s the No. 1 thing that needs to improve.”

Pat Flaherty’s imminent hiring as a consultant for the offensive line, confirmed by sources, is the latest piece added as a potential fix to the Giants’ puzzle.

Flaherty, 64, was Tom Coughlin’s offensive line coach for the Giants’ Super Bowl victories in 2007 and 2011, on staff from 2004-15 in all.

Kareem McKenzie, the Giants’ starting right tackle for both championship runs, remembers those lines were not stacked with high draft picks but came together under Flaherty and disproved doubters: undrafted center Shaun O’Hara, undrafted guard Rich Seubert, fifthround left tackle David Diehl and sixth-round guard/center Kevin Boothe among them.

“Looking at those who were there for the bulk of (Flaherty’s) tenure, they weren’t journeymen, but they were players (that outside) people thought wouldn’t hang around long,” McKenzie, 41, a former Jets thirdround pick, said Monday. “But in that room, we were guys who were dedicated to working collectively to achieving a goal.”

McKenzie said Flaherty brings “attention to detail, motivation and work ethic.”

“Specifically, I remember as a player knowing he was willing to put in as much — if not more — work than his players to make sure they were prepared on Sundays,” McKenzie said. “We did a lot of different things that for me were new, with all the different walk-throughs.

All those aspects that you take for granted now, in preparation, a lot of what we accomplished as an offensive line was because of Pat Flaherty.”

All of that should make Flaherty a solid consultant and sounding board for new Giants offensive line coach Rob Sale, 41, as Sale acclimates to his first NFL job from Louisiana Lafayette.

Flaherty has 2019 Dolphins ties to two members of Joe Judge’s coaching staff, as well: defensive coordinator Pat Graham and QBs coach Jerry Schuplinski.

So there is familiarity inside the franchise and on the coaching staff. The hope is that consistency won’t be far behind entering Year 2 of coordinator Jason Garrett’s offense.

There has been more turmoil with the Giants’ O-line than any position group in the past year.

In February, Sale unofficially became the Giants’ fourth offensive line coach in 14 months following Hal Hunter under Pat Shurmur, and Marc Colombo and DeGuglielmo under Judge.

DeGuglielmo was the Dolphins’ offensive line coach in 2019, promoted only when Miami fired Flaherty in late July, reportedly for failing to implement the Fins’ new system.

Last fall, Judge brought DeGuglielmo to the Giants midseason to consult, only for Garrett’s former Dallas compatriot, Colombo, to take exception and get fired for insubordination.

Then DeGuglielmo’s promotion was fleeting. He left for Louisiana Tech in early February after failing to reach terms with the Giants.

Now Sale and Flaherty take charge of a young, developing line in the early stages of the Giants’ rebuild, but entering a season when Jones and the offense need to start putting up points.

The Giants ranked dead last in the NFL last season with a 46% pass block win rate, an advanced metric charted by ESPN Stats & Info. The Packers led the NFL at a 74% win rate. The Giants’ run blocking was about average.

Only two of their starting five from last season project as clear starters in 2021: left tackle Andrew Thomas, 22, the No. 4 overall pick who underwhelmed as a rookie, and center Nick Gates, 25, the former undrafted free agent tackle and last year’s brightest spot.

It’s impossible to say with certainty who the other three starters will be, though, and whether they’re even on this roster yet.

Right guard Kevin Zeitler, 31, at $14.5 million, and tackle Nate Solder, 32, at $16.5 million, are veterans who require conversations and cost-cutting. But even then, are they a long-term solution?

Left guard Will Hernandez, 25, a 2018 second-round pick, plummeted down the depth chart last season in favor of 2020 fifth-rounder Shane Lemieux, 23. Both players are young and developing, but neither is a known commodity.

The hope is that fellow tackles Thomas and Matt Peart, 23, a 2020 third-round pick, progress into longterm bookends. The young players, Lemieux included, only have played through one pandemic-affected year.

Right tackle Cam Fleming, 28, is a free agent. He was a durable 2020 starter (90% snaps), and he would help depth as an affordable re-signing, but an upgrade would benefit the starting five.

Thomas did play extremely well in the Giants’ finale against the Cowboys before undergoing left ankle surgery. The Giants recently signed center Jonotthan Harrison to create interior depth and competition.

Free agency and the draft will present more opportunities for Dave Gettleman and Judge to improve their front to protect Jones.

Flaherty is only one extra piece, in an advisory role at that. But the hiring of their two-time Super Bowl winning O-line coach is an encouraging reminder that the Giants are self-aware and mindful of what their line must look like to produce points and wins.

DEATHS IN THE FAMILY

Two former Giants defensive tackles have died in the past week: John Mendenhall, 72, and Louis Nix III, 29. Mendenhall played for the Giants from 1972-79. His family told ESPN that he died late last week. Nix played in four games for the Giants in 2015 and competed in 2016 training camp before being waived. He was found dead in Jacksonville on Saturday. Nix had been shot during an attempted robbery in December. He was missing recently until his car reportedly was pulled from a retention pond on Saturday.