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 five sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- You think the Giants will adequately replace Michael Strahan? You think they will find a defensive end even half as effective? You think the defense won't suffer despite all the brave statements being made by the players and head coach Tom Coughlin?

Think again. This is a budding disaster.

Talk to scouts and personnel people, ask them the most important positions on a pro football team which, in turn, describes the most difficult to find. They'll offer three such positions -- a pass- rushing defensive end, an offensive left tackle and a shut-down cornerback.

What about quarterback, you say? Oh, sure, they're tough to find. But they are not in the same category, not while Super Bowls can be won by such as Trent Dilfer, and competed for by such as Jake Delhomme. You can get there with an ordinary quarterback, as long as you have the offensive linemen to protect him and the key defensive people to stop the other guys.

So Michael Strahan is gone for the season with a torn pectoral muscle which was surgically repaired Wednesday. His loss is enormous; his impact on the defense and the players was equally great.

Coughlin is going to have to find a way to deal with this, and if it involves placing more pressure on second-year Osi Umenyiora, well, it's about time. He was a second round draft pick last year and if you believe the stories, the San Diego Chargers were willing to take him instead of next year's first round draft pick in the Eli Manning deal.

The Giants said no. That's how important a pass-rushing defensive end is, even one who hadn't yet begun to even realize his potential.

So now it's Osi and somebody who will start at the two end positions, Osi who will be rotated along with somebody else, while a fourth (and fifth) somebody else will rotate at the right defensive end spot.

There are some names for you to consider. They include defensive tackle Lance Legree, who is being thought of as a starter on the right side. That's nice. Lance is a perfectly nice young man. He is 6-0 and 300 pounds. And should he start at that right defensive end, he'll come up against the Arizona Cardinals' left tackle -- a former first round pick named Leonard Davis who is 6-6 and 381.

Those are not typographical errors. The man is 6-6 and 381. Sure, Lance has a great chance. He isn't even that mobile.

Another name is Lorenzo Bromell, 6-6 and 260, just set free from the PUP/Reserve list. He was signed by the Giants as an Unrestricted Free Agent from the Oakland Raiders on April 5, a seven-year veteran from Clemson. He has played for the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings and Raiders. He has 27.5 career sacks, and he hasn't played until the final six games of last season for Oakland (remember, another of the four 4-12 teams last year).

Sure, he'll make you forget Strahan.

Then we have the other prospect of defensive tackle William Joseph, the Giants' first round pick last year. To say he was a disappointment is not being cruel, it is being fair. He has shown some flashes. He is 6-5 and 315. He might actually make a pretty fair defensive end if he can improve his quickness. Remember, some years ago the Giants drafted a defensive tackle named Leonard Marshall, and he didn't excel until head coach Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick decided to move him to end.

Maybe. Maybe Joseph can make the same switch. But in time for Sunday? At any time during this season? Don't be foolish. If he's a defensive end, or going to be, it won't happen until next year.

Well, there is a rookie named Reggie Torbor, who was a defensive end at Auburn, who plays end now in a few of the "sub" formations but who has been successfully converted into a strongside linebacker. Could he do it? He weighs 250 pounds. Leonard Davis could pick him up and deposit him into a few of the many empty seats in Sun Devil Stadium (at least when the Cardinals play there; it's filled for the Arizona State team).

Torbor relishes the idea. "Hey, if they have a 380-pound offensive tackle who is as quick as I am, then they really got something special, you know?"Yes, we know.

And let's don't forget the newest Giant, the 6-4, 275-pound Chuck Wiley, who played against them two weeks ago for the Minnesota Vikings and was cut a week later. … He has experience (seven years in the league) and he has been a starter (two games this season, in fact) but nobody will ever confuse him with Strahan. "I can't be Michael Strahan," he said. "I mean, he has done a lot over the years and played on a consistent level at all times. All I can do is just come in here and do my job, do what I'm told, play some good football and help the team win."

Can't argue with that, now can you?

The Giants are going to have to use a lot of 3-4 formations. They are going to have to count on the two huge defensive tackles, Fred Robbins and Norman Hand, to plug up the middle and swallow Emmitt Smith. But they are going to have to use pure speed at the ends, on the "edges," as coaches like to say, and they might be linebackers, not actual ends. If they put Hand at nose tackle, they can deal with Robbins (who has four sacks, which ties him for the team lead with Strahan) at one contrived end position and probably Umenyiora, who has blinding speed around the edge, at the other end.

It isn't going to be pretty, and it doesn't have much of a chance of working, but frankly it's the only hope the Giants have.

Losing Strahan was the worst possible thing that could have happened to the defense, much as losing running back Tiki Barber would ruin the offense.

EXTRA POINTS -- When the Giants elevated Bromell from the PUP/Reserve list, they decided not to do the same to guard Rich Seubert, who suffered a compound spiral fracture of his right leg Oct. 19. 2003. ... He was automatically switched to the Injured Reserve list, out for the remainder of the season.

The injury report looks like a hospital list from an emergency ward. ... Safety Jack Brewer, a special teams dynamo, is out "for a while" with a leg injury. ... Running back Mike Cloud has bruised ribs and is questionable, as are weakside linebacker Barrett Green (knee, ankle), center Shaun O'Hara (leg infection), tackle Luke Petitgout (concussion) and tight end Marcellus Rivers (back). ... O'Hara and Petitgout are expected to play, Rivers is day-to-day and so is Green.

Of course, Strahan and the other defensive end, Keith Washington (knee surgery) are out for the season, and Washington has indicated he might consider retirement. ...

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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