Giants GM Jerry Reese Expects ‘Significant Jump’ From Starting OTs In 2017 Season

Jerry Reese has stated what he hopes to see out of the New York Giants’ offense next season, and the general manager says the team’s tackles, particularly Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart, will have to improve substantially.

Jerry Reese on Giants Offensive Tackles, 2017 Draft Picks

Flowers, the ninth overall pick out of Miami in the 2015 NFL Draft, and Hart, a seventh-round pick out of Florida State from that same year, both struggled last season, but Reese appears to remain confident the third-year offensive tackles can make the leap for the 2017 season this fall.

“It’s almost kind of developmental, some ups and downs as young players but we expect these guys to make a significant jump this season, because they’ve been in the league already,” Reese said Monday on WFAN, via the New York Post. “Those guys could have been in this draft class.”

Earlier this offseason, the only offensive player the Giants signed as a free agent was backup tackle D.J. Fluker, a former Chargers star.

However, Big Blue also added another offensive tackle to their roster during the sixth round of last weekend’s draft: University of Pittsburgh’s four-year starter Adam Bisnowaty, a left tackle who was selected as the 200th overall pick.

Reese then signed two more plays from the undrafted free-agent pool: USC tackle Chad Wheeler and guard Jessamen Dunker. 

The Giants gave Wheeler a $20,000 signing bonus.

“I think probably the reason he didn’t get drafted, there were some off-field issues people were concerned with,’’ Reese said. “To get him as a free agent, we feel if he has a chance, if he has his head on right.’’

Those off-field issues included an altercation Wheeler had with Los Angeles Police in December 2015. Police responded to a call regarding a man punching walls and windows at his apartment complex, potentially under the influence. Wheeler was not arrested, although he was taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

As for Bisnowaty, Reese complimented the tackle for a being a strong player, and even called him “a David Diehl-type of guy,’’ comparing the Pittsburgh tackle to the 2003 fifth-round draft selection who eventually became a starter for ten years at several positions on the offensive line.

“He’s tough, he’s big, he’s gonna bring the same intensity every day, you know what you’re gonna get every day from this guy,’’ Reese said of Bisnowaty. “I just saw guys in this past [veteran] free agent group make millions of dollars with the same skill-set.’’

Reese added he will continue to oversee the waiver wire and potentially pursue a trade for additional offensive line help.

Giants coach Ben McAdoo confirmed on WFAN that Paul Perkins will be the starting running back next season, a decision that does not come as much of a surprise.

“We feel Paul Perkins is gonna grow,” McAdoo said. “He didn’t even have an offseason last year.”

The Giants waived quarterback Keith Wenning from Ball State and running back George Winn from Cincinnati after drafting players at those positions last week. New York also got Mississippi tight end Evan Engram in the first round (No. 23). of this year’s draft on Friday.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 3: Bobby Hart #68 of the New York Giants and teammate Odell Beckham #13 talk while walking off the field after the first half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on October 3, 2016 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)