There has been turnover on the Giants offensive line in recent seasons, and once again, it will become a topic of much debate as the team hits its checkpoints in the coming months and into the season.
Rookie minicamp is one of those benchmarks, and a pair of offensive tackles have entered the picture as members of the 2012 draft class.
Selected sequentially in the Giants' draft order, Brandon Mosley, the fourth-round pick, and Matt McCants, the sixth rounder (the defending champions traded their fifth round selection to Cincinnati for linebacker Keith Rivers), began that professional journey on Friday when they stepped onto the practice field for the first time.
"It was a great experience being out there for the Super Bowl champs," said McCants, who sits one locker away from Mosley. "We just took it as an opportunity to get better each day. I'm trying to show I'm able to get better, I'm able to learn fast and be very tough. That's it. I just want to get better."
Rookie minicamp is also a time when all the speculation, draft grades and combine numbers start to fall by the wayside, and players can show what they are capable of on the field.
They'll hope they did so favorably as coach Tom Coughlin laid it all on the table for the rookies when they reported to the facility Thursday night.
"That is the first sign we put up: You never get a second chance to make a first impression," Coughlin said after Friday morning's practice. "That is basically what their goal is, I'm sure. And I'm sure they have been told by their agents exactly what they need to do when they come into camp to reinforce why they were drafted. So, believe me, it is so new and then when you come to the franchise of the World Champions, you can imagine what these young guys are going through the first time and to sit there last night and listen to us speak to them."
While it has been only a day, Coughlin has general traits to look for early on, and two of his newest offensive linemen share one of them.
"Those two offensive linemen, I'm sure they are spinning," Coughlin said. "It is a lot different when they are lined up six inches from your nose. So they have some work to do. But they are anxious to learn."
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