INGLEWOOD, Calif. — He was sitting there, available when the Giants were on the clock with the No. 11-overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Rashawn Slater, out of Northwestern, was available to help solve their ongoing offensive line problems, but the Giants did not love him as a tackle prospect and they traded down. Slater was taken by the Chargers with the No. 13 pick and the Giants have to live that down.
The Giants believed Matt Peart, entering his second NFL season, was ready to take the next step and move in at right tackle. That has not come close to happening — Peart has been benched and is not in the playing rotation.
Slater? He’s just fine, thank you. He has started every game at left tackle and has not missed any of the Chargers’ 823 snaps. His grade of 82.3 by Pro Football Focus is the seventh highest for any tackle in the league.
The Giants passed on Rashawn Slater, hoping Matt Peart could their right tackle of the future.
“As a young player, it seems like I don’t see a lot of mental errors out there,’’ Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said. “Sometimes you try to ID those young guys and say, ‘All right, this guy’s going to make a mistake, let’s do this. Let’s mug up over him. Let’s do something to him to affect him.’ You’re not really seeing that. I was real impressed with what he’s doing on the field. His toughness, athletic ability and he’s playing strong right now and playing smart.’’
Derek Dooley, the Giants’ tight ends coach, is a former head coach at Louisiana Tech and Tennessee and spent five years working on Jason Garrett’s Dallas staff as the Cowboys’ wide receivers coach. When Garrett was hired as the Giants’ offensive coordinator, Dooley was added to Joe Judge’s staff in 2020 as a senior offensive assistant.
After Garrett was fired by Judge during the bye week, there had been reports he might be in line for the head-coaching vacancy at Duke, which was filled by Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko. Dooley saw Duke as a good fit for Garrett.
“I mean, go look at his 10-year record in the NFL,’’ Dooley, the youngest son of College Football Hall of Famer Vince Dooley, said. “How many active head coaches of the 32 have a better winning percentage?
“Jason is incredibly intelligent and if you put him in charge of anything, he would quickly figure it out and have success. There’s no doubt in my mind.’’
Jarren Williams made the Giants’ practice squad in 2020 as an undrafted cornerback who played college ball at Albany. Williams made it back to the practice squad earlier this season and a recent rash of injuries in the defensive backfield prompted an elevation to the active roster. In the loss last week to the Dolphins, Williams was used for the first snaps on defense of his NFL career. He was on the field for 25 snaps on defense and 15 on special teams.
“I was messing with him the other day, he was talking about being sore,’’ special teams coach Thomas McGaughey said. “He was like, ‘I haven’t played 40 snaps since Albany.’ He was sore, so that’s a good thing. We’ve just got to keep him going.’’
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