NFL training camp: Best battle to watch for each team
By John Buhler
New York Giants: D.J. Fluker vs. John Jerry
2017 could be an amazing season for the New York Giants just about as easily as it could be a massively disappointing one. Defensively, it’s hard to argue against what New York will be trotting out there again for defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. It’s deep at all levels. However if anything is going to sink New York this fall, that would come on the offensive side of the ball.
Though they have an elite trio of wideouts in Odell Beckham Jr., recently acquired Brandon Marshall and Sterling Sheperd, quarterback Eli Manning isn’t gaining athleticism behind a bad Giants offensive line. The Giants need the running game to be sound in the worst way, but look for Beckham to again make the splash plays New York needs for head coach Ben McAdoo.
Up front the position to keep an eye on is right guard between the incoming D.J. Fluker and the veteran John Jerry. Fluker was a former first-round pick out of the University of Alabama. He didn’t thrive for the San Diego Chargers, seeming to be another also-ran prospect coming out of Tuscaloosa after Nick Saban got the most out of him in the SEC.
Right guard should be Jerry’s job to lose. Fluker may have come into the NFL with more praise and collegiate production over Jerry, but seeing Fluker win the job over Jerry is a bad sign for the Giants offense going forward. At least Manning refuses to get hurt behind a bad Giants offensive line. Manning’s ability to stay healthy has him likely Canton bound, that and those two Super Bowl victories over the New England Patriots.