The NY Giants are opening OTA workouts this week and with Will Beatty injured, Ereck Flowers has started out at left tackle and he could push to start this season with Justin Pugh on the offensive line and this comes as Jason Pierre-Paul has been absent from team activities as he waits to sign a contract on the franchise tag, while Landon Collins is looking to start as a rookie.
According to Pro Football Talk, Flowers started out things on Wednesday at left tackle and he could be slotted there after Beatty suffered an injury. Beatty will be out for six months and that could push Justin Pugh to tackle after the team wanted him to be at guard this year. Flowers has pressure and so does Landon Collins, as he likely will be starting at safety for the team this season after being a second round pick.
The Giants are coming into 2015 after going 6-10 last season and Tom Coughlin's job could be on the line once again if they don't go to the playoffs. Coughlin was not in real danger of getting fired at the end of the season after the way the Giants finished, but after losing to the Jaguars earlier in the year, John Mara said he wanted to "fire everybody". Cooler heads prevailed and now Coughlin returns along with general manager Jerry Reese, although a change was made at defensive coordinator, bringing in Steve Spagnuolo for Perry Fewell.
The Giants had some significant players hit free agency this offseason, including Jason Pierre-Paul and they also lost Antrel Rolle and Walter Thurmond. JPP is coming off of a bounce back season that saw him hit double digit sacks, while Rolle just finished off a five year contract and emerged as one of the veteran leaders of the team. Rolle is gone and now JPP may return and the Giants are hoping he signed a deal or his tender soon.
The Giants had at least one benefit of having a losing record this past season, as they had a top 10 draft pick and that is not something that has been common in recent years for the organization. Last year the team picked Odell Beckham in the first round and he turned out to be a fantastic choice and now Reese has been able to add another solid prospect in Flowers. Flowers is looked at as a tackle in the league and he comes in as the second lineman off the board after the Redskins took lineman Brandon Scherff, safety Landon Collins, linebacker Shaq Thompson and Vic Beasley have been mentioned as potential targets.
The Giants finished the season winning three of their final four games to help soften the blow for Coughlin and the emergence of Odell Beckham made everyone feel a bit better. Beckham won rookie of the year this season and the team is hoping he can repeat his performance next year when Victor Cruz returns. Cruz was injured and missed most of the season and the Giants are hoping he can be the same receiver when he comes back.
The New York Giants had some big name free agents hitting the market in Jason Pierre-Paul, Antrel Rolle, Walter Thurmond and Mark Herzlich and they tried to keep the most important players of the group. The team signed Shane Vereen on the market and are hoping to sign JPP to a contract after hitting him with the franchise tag. JPP has not signed his tender and head coach Tom Coughlin said he expects him in mandatory minicamp.