Loading ...Amid uncertainty on the offensive line, New York Giants offensive tackle James Brewer sees an opportunity to become a key asset to the teams' offense heading into the 2012 season. Although the 6'8"/ 331lb second year player out of Indiana did not see any game action last season, there will be opportunities for him to crack the rotation at both offensive tackle positions in 2012.
With the departure of Kareem McKenzie, Will Beatty's health concerns, along with David Diehl's deteriorating play, it is more than likely that James Brewer will see some significant playing time this year. While speaking to Jorge Castillo of The Star-Ledger, Beatty talked about how it felt to watch from the sideline for all of last season.
"To go from college where you're the man and you start and you get in the habit and routine of playing and then you come here and you take a backseat, it's humbling but then at the same time as a competitor you want to play. People are like, 'You went to the Super Bowl back home. How do you top that?' I was like, 'By playing it.' It's one thing to watch the Super Bowl. I could've been just a fan and had the same kind of experience." Brewer said.
Coming out of college, the team knew that Brewer would be a project. Although he was a productive player at Indiana, he has never displayed the quickness nor the pass blocking technique necessary to play at the NFL level. For his immense size, he has below average strength and relies too much on his figure to block pass rushers.
However, this season Brewer hopes to show that he is capable of not only improving his technique, but also showing his ability to play both right and left tackle positions. When asked if he thought switching back and forth between both spots would hurt his progress as a player, Beatty refuted the notion by stating the following:
"No, you got to be ready because guys get banged up. Will was banged up so they needed a guy to go to left and then when Diehl was gone with some personal stuff I was at right. So being able to step up and go with the ones at left or right, for me, was, one, a great opportunity and, two, I think it showed that they kind of trust in me to be the next guy possibly down the road to actually do that in case it happens during the season."
Although many experts believe that the Giants have serious concerns on the offensive line, it is important to remember that by in large, this is the same group of players that helped the team win a Super Bowl last season. With players like James Brewer having a full year to develop, the team will have some depth as well.
It is unlikely that James Brewer earns a starting spot out of training camp. However, if Will Beatty can not stay healthy, or if David Diehl proves to be an unreliable option at the age of 31, Brewer may get the call to take over starting duties at either tackle position in the middle of the season. He is painfully raw and inexperienced; however, he has the potential to be an outstanding left tackle, which are hard to come by these days. It will be interesting to keep tabs on his development as the season progresses.
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Lets hope we have the luxury of bringing him along slowly.
According to numerous reports, the Giants front office and coaches are very high on Brewer’s combination of size, strength, and athleticism. I’ve no doubt they see him as a future starter at tackle, either by this year or 2013, at the latest.
But my understanding is that the knock on Brewer (and correct me if I’m wrong) is that he has had trouble staying on the field. I recall reading that he had a history of minor injuries while at Indiana that caused him to miss time. And, of course, there was the well-publicized (and much derided) incident last summer where he was carted off the practice field with what turned out to be a minor bone bruise. All of which leads one to wonder about the height of his pain threshold.
For the time being, I’ll remain in the “cautiously optimistic” camp on Brewer and trust the word of the Giant brass that this kid has all the tools to be a stalwart on the line for years to come. But I can’t help but feel that they may have hedged their bets just a bit on account of Brewer’s injury history by taking two tackles in the draft and bringing about 97 more of them into camp.
I don’t have any real feel for Brewer but it can’t be good that he is considered a bit slow. The best tackles have pretty good fast-twitch ability so they can offset speed rushers well. I, too, trust the Giants if they like this guy, but I REALLY like the two they brought in through this draft. McCants may be raw but he is a tremendous athlete who should develop into a very fine player. Mosely is a really good prospect who impressed me much the way Petrus did when I saw him play in college: tough kid who likes to hit and dominate people. He has that mean streak that we lost when Seubert disappeared, that Diehl has but Beatty and Brewer may not. Snee has it too. Baas certainly did at Michigan.
I like our offensive linemen big, quick, and mean. I hope Brewer proves out, but I think we just drafted a pair who will.
The thing that keeps me out of the panic room about the OL is both Seubert and O’Hara were UDFA’s. The Giants have proven that they can scout and find good linemen in the late rounds and on the market. That might not be much consolation for this year, as guys like Mosely, McCants, Reindeers, et al will take some time to come around (assuming they do come around), but as long as our line holds up for another season we should be in okay shape.
Hell, maybe Petrus will have figured out how to pass-protect too. As has been said here before, I love his mean streak but also his enthusiasm for the game. I remember the first snap he took during the 2010 Seattle game, dude SPRINTED to the huddle like a fat kid who’d just spotted the last donut.
Hearing that Brewer might be a little soft does concern me though. You don’t want a wimp on your line. Hopefully it’s just talk, and hopefully he hears it too.
FWIW, here’s one pre-draft scouting report on Brewer.
I know it’s nearly a year and a half old but, pending any further evidence, reports such as this one are pretty much all we have to go on at this point:
Strengths:
Elite size and strength. Showed steady improvement over the past two years and still has plenty of upside. Experience at right tackle and guard. Excels as a run blocker; impressive overall strength allows him to swallow up smaller defensive ends and linebackers.
Weaknesses:
Serious injury concerns; missed entire 2007 season with foot injury. Missed time 2008 with ankle injury. Limited experience; started playing football in senior year of high school in 2005 and then didn’t see the field consistently at Indiana until 2009. Limited athleticism. Struggles with footwork and body positioning; easily gets pulled out of position when trying to match up with speed rushers on the edge.
Comments:
Brewer’s lack of experience and improved performance in 2010 gives him some upside, however, he also can’t be counted on for much production early in his career. He has the potential to develop into a starter at right tackle or guard but it may take a year or two to develop him. The bottom line is there aren’t many players that enter the draft with his size and potential, so someone will take a chance on him and hope to coach him up.
http://draftace.com/blog/2011/03/31/james-brewer-scouting-report/
Sounds to me like he’s AT LEAST a year away, which isn’t all that surprising. It also sounds like he was drafted to replace McKenzie rather than compete with Beatty.
If Beatty’s back isn’t sound, which we all hope isn’t the case and probably isn’t a huge problem with such a young guy, then I think we’re going to see Diehl slide over to the left side and we will be seeing a lot of Sean Locklear and the return of Kareem if they can convince him to come back for $3MM for the year.
GOAT, norm, FF55, et al,
I wasn’t using Cowherd as an authority, just as a moment to make me step back and think. And I’m not discounting all the injuries during the regular season and blame them directly on the 7-7 start.
But I also credit the 6-0 finish directly to the health of all those players who got healthy and the rest that never got hurt. And I feel he’s right, about the playoffs specifically.
Steelers could have made some noise in a weak AFC with a healthy Roethlisberger. A banged up Gronkowski only hurt the Pats. The Giants had 45 relatively healthy and core guys in the run.
More importantly, and the essence of my point, that realtively healthy and solid core returns, and gives me great optimism.
They were the best team, and the reason doesn’t matter much UNLESS you are trying to diminish their chances this season by claiming it was all about being healthy (which I know you’re not doing). I expect the ESPN crowd to now start mouthing that garbage as they pick the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl for about the third straight year.
But hey, who cares? As TC says, just play the game. Assuming they stay relatively healthy this season (they HAVE to be due simply by dint of the law of averages) they are a better team than the one that rolled people last December-February. That bodes well.
I partly agree with your statement. But I don’t agree with the implication that our winning was due health whereas other teams didn’t have health. I think we won because we had a talented that got healthy and when healthy we were as good or better than anyone. To me what Colin is implying (maybe you’re not) that we only won because we were the most healthy team. Our injuries hurt too we just overcame them. Even look at a player like Ballard who clearly wasn’t the same player health wise the last part of the season.
Cowherd was using, as is his role, a simplification of healthiest team wins. I’m saying yeah, we were damn healthy, but those healthy players are damn good.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/tiki_bride_joy_axBFpsMigFlGxf6r0u61iL