E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
WHAT IF REESE WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG AND DIEHL CAN PLAY LEFT TACKLE?

Here's a thought, however unsettling. What if Jerry Reese was right all along with respect to the offensive left tackle position and in his confidence that left guard David Diehl can handle the transition?

Golly, what then?

He is certainly big enough, listed at 6-5 and 320. He is young enough, too, since he won't be 27 until a week after the regular season starts. Diehl was a fifth round draft pick in 2003 out of Illinois and he hasn't missed a game yet. Not one, not once. He has played right guard (which he did all during his rookie season). He has played right tackle (all during his second season). He has played left guard for the last two years, with the exception of left tackle last season in the final regular game and the one playoff game.

So he has, in fact, played every offensive line position with the exception of center, and now that the Giants released veteran tackle Luke Petitgout, there is a yawning abyss at that position and no one with any real experience to fill it.

"It was a team decision," said Reese, the new general manager now successfully embarked on his first season out of the shadow of Ernie Accorsi, and that is all he would say, not choosing to comment on whether the release was due to Petitgout's health, injury history or financial drain on the team's payroll -- or, perhaps more likely, whether it was a combination of all of the above.

At the time, it was speculated that the Giants would begin searching for a veteran free agent at left tackle, much like they did in 2000 when they found Lomas Brown or two years ago when Bob Whitfield joined the team. But guys were brought in, or at least considered, and for one reason or another they were turned down.

So it became Diehl, and then came the draft. Surely the first round would yield an offensive tackle, but there were only four taken through the first two rounds and the only one the Giants had a chance to snare -- Central Michigan's Joe Staley -- was ignored in order to take cornerback Aaron Ross of Texas.

In fact, the only offensive tackle drafted was Adam Koets, in the sixth round, and whether or not he ultimately plays will in no way make him a viable candidate to start at that all-important position this season.

There are reports that the Giants are still talking to Cleveland about tackle Adam Shaffer. Nobody confirms that, nobody has anything concrete to say and it has gone on long enough so that there probably isn't much to it.

The word around the block now is that the Giants will take one more shot at the Browns and Shaffer sometime before they open training camp, and if it still doesn't work, then it will be Diehl at left tackle, Rich Seubert (in all likelihood) at left guard and off to the races they'll go.

And what if he's right? What if Diehl becomes the Giants' starting left tackle for the next several years? Wouldn't that embarrass a lot of people (especially this writer)?

Well, all we can do is rely on previous observation and a few chats with those who were there when he was drafted, notably the late Rosey Brown, who was a Hall of Fame offensive tackle and was more than just qualified to discuss such things.

"He might make a nice guard," Rosey said one day in the Giants Stadium press box during Diehl's rookie season, when it was clear that he had made the team and might even become a starter. "He is big and strong, but he won't make it at tackle because he just isn't quick enough. Today's defensive ends will fly right past him. I just don't think he can play tackle, especially on the left side."

One did not argue with Rosey when it came to offensive tackle and how to best play the position. That would have been worse than foolish, and to paraphrase a quotation from Edward Langley: "What this country needs is more unemployed self-appointed experts."

So Rosey didn't much care for the potential or Diehl as a tackle, and when he did play the position in his second season, albeit the right tackle position, and he wasn't exceptional at it. The fact that it was also the first year of the reign of Thomas Richard Coughlin.

When Rosey played this game he weighed no more than 275 pounds, but he was tougher and more determined than any of the 300-pound-plus guys today. He used to pick up old mattresses from junkyards and tie them to trees in his backyard in the off-season to use as blocking dummies, which explains in full detail the quality of the off-season training programs in those days.

"I just figured it was my job," he said. "If I didn't show up to summer camp in good shape I was afraid somebody would take my job away from me."

So listening to him talk about offensive tackles was more than just an education. It was like talking to Johnny Unitas about quarterbacking, or talking to Ted Williams about hitting, and when he said he wasn't in love with Diehl as a tackle you had to take that seriously.

Well, maybe David will surprise him this year, or maybe Reese will surprise everybody else and find a left tackle so that he can leave a very good left guard in place.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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