Giants needed help at offensive line coming into this upcoming season, and that’s why they took Ereck Flowers with the 9th overall pick in the draft. The big offensive lineman out of Miami has made it known about how much he constantly is trying to improve each week and his teammates are buying in.
“I think he’s doing well,” said Giants running back Andre Williams. “He’s got the right attitude. He’s smart. He shows great skills in certain schemes, and for a rookie, I like that he’s not easily frustrated.”
Williams was one of the beneficiaries of one of Flowers’ more dominating run blocks with an 11-yard first-half gain.
Lets take a look at the good and bad from Flowers Preseason Week 2 vs the Jaguars:
The Good
So here on the bottom of the picture we see Flowers clearly winning the battle vs LB Dan Skuta. He opens up the gap for running back Andre Williams to get past for a gain of 11.
WINNER: Flowers
Here Giants running back Shane Vereen gets the carry to the left Flowers holds up the rusher enough for Vereen to get past and take it for a gain of ten with the help of the tight end.
Now here Jennings get the carry and on top you can see Flowers with the clean block on Jaguars DE Ryan Davis. Jennings only gained four yards on the play, but Flowers didn’t break hold till the running back was past him. Nice Job rookie!
Lastly we see above, Flowers makes a good move by getting his hand on a second defender while keeping his man cleared. It may have not held up long, but it would have gave Vereen a chance to get by had he continued on. Good instincts. I like this guy.
The Bad
Here we see a little problem Flowers has been having get him in sticky situations. If he gets his hands right, he can hold his block just as good as anyone, however he has gotten beat in the preseason with quick moves from Defensive ends. This week he was much improved but, on this play Chris Smith sneaks inside at the last minute and almost meets his teammate at the QB. No Eli is not a fan of sandwiches.
We see it again here, Smith #98, beats Flowers again and has a free shot at the QB.
Final Assessment
I love Flowers size and the way he uses it to maul defenders backwards once he latches on. Although he seems to get beat with his hands here and there, that is a place he can improve on with some coaching up. He is gifted physically and shows good blocking skills, especially in the running game. Expect him to only improve on the weak points and be even better for next week, just as he improved from a lackluster game in Cincinnati last week.