Who's the longest tenured Giant on the offensive line?
Giants offensive tackle Chad Wheeler at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 30, 2018. Credit: Daniel De Mato
The longest-tenured Giants offensive lineman on the active roster is Chad Wheeler.
Let that sink in.
Wheeler tried.
“I guess so,” he said, scoping out the locker room. “It is kind of weird to wrap your head around that.”
A second-year player, undrafted a year ago out of USC, and the starting right tackle for the last three games, now stands as the only player in the position group who has been with the team since the start of the 2017 season. That’s how much the Giants have overhauled their offensive line, the latest move coming with the imminent release or trade of former first-round pick Ereck Flowers.
“When you’re not winning on a consistent basis, there are going to be changes,” Wheeler said. “You try new things out. We’re not going to just keep trying to beat a dead horse.”
There are only three linemen on the full roster who were even with the team for any parts of last season: Jon Halapio (on injured reserve) and John Greco (who was signed last November). Wheeler, therefore, finds himself as the 24-year-old elderstateman.
Of course that doesn’t mean he’s going to start swinging his new clout around. Asked if he planned to start bossing around the player in the locker next to his – eight-year veteran and three-time Super Bowl champion Nate Solder – Wheeler grinned.
“Yeah, right,” he said. “I don’t think so.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
