Big hole to Will
Will Beatty injured himself Tuesday while bench-pressing and when he woke the next morning, he made sure he did not eat or drink before his appointment at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Once he heard the news he suspected but did not want to hear — he had a torn left pectoral muscle — Beatty was ready for what came next.
Immediately ready for what came next.
“Will said, ‘I’d like to do it today, because I’d like to get back, I don’t want to lose time rehabbing,’ ’’ said Alan Herman, Beatty’s agent. “He just bought himself another week of healing. He opted to do it right then and there.’’
The surgery on Wednesday, performed by Dr. Frank Cordasco, will keep Beatty out of action, at the very least, for the first two months of the season and perhaps the entire first half of the season.
Beatty, 30, might not have been in the Giants’ longrange plans, as he will count $9.1 million against the salary cap in 2016 and $9.3 million against the 2017 cap.
Plus, the Giants did use the No. 9 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft on Ereck Flowers, a massive player they insist is a legitimate lefttackle prospect down the road. But Beatty was unquestionably a big part of the plan for this season’s offensive line, as Flowers probably needs time to develop and acclimate to the NFL game and the better place for him to do that is at right tackle, and not pro tecting Eli Manning’s blind side.
Beatty, with 46 consecutive starts at left tackle, is second to Manning among the Giants — Eli is at 167 straight starts.
Beatty rebounded from the worst season of his career in 2013 — he allowed 13 sacks, the most of any offensive tackle in the league — with an extremely solid 2014 showing. He allowed only three sacks and finished with the 14thhighest grade among all tackles in a detailed pass rush and blocking rating by Pro Football Focus. That is about right as far as where Beatty stacks up in the league — not near the top and not near the bottom, but as a respectable left tackle who, the past three years, has navigated around some serious injuries to earn a reputation as a durable player.
The Giants, after the draft, could envision a starting offensive line (from left to right) of Beatty, Justin Pugh, Weston Richburg, Geoff Schwartz and Flowers. That plan now must be altered.
The left tackle spot could fall to Pugh or Flowers, as both played on the left side in college, although scouts are nearly unanimous that neither is bestsuited to left tackle.
The Beatty injury means the anticipated move of Pugh from right tackle inside to a guard spot must be shelved, as he’s needed at tackle. It also means the Giants are in the market for a starting guard, as the holdovers on the roster — John Jerry, Brandon Mosley, Eric Herman and rookie Bobby Hart (a seventhround pick from Florida State) are thought of as reserves.
The more change there is along the offensive line, the worse it is for the offense. If the Giants are in desperate need of Beatty when he is ready to return, that is a bad sign.
Perhaps someone steps out of the shadows and emerges at left tackle, making Beatty’s return to health a luxury. At the moment, there is a void and no readymade solution. The upshot of all this is that Flowers must be ready by September to be a starting NFL offensive tackle.
Beatty, Herman said, was “bummed out’’ by the injury, because “he thought he had a good year last year and he was looking forward to continuing along down that path.’’