*GM Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo discuss the draft and state of the Giants' offensive line: *
With the 2017 NFL Draft now in the rearview mirror and the scramble to sign undrafted free agents underway, NFL rosters are taking shape as OTAs and minicamp inch closer.
The Giants came away with six players in the draft – four on offense and two on defense. Big Blue entered the draft with seven picks, but traded away their seventh rounder to move up in round six. With the pick, the Giants selected Pittsburgh offensive tackle Adam Bisnowaty.
On Monday, both general manager Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo appeared on WFAN to recap this year's draft class. They also addressed the current state of the offensive line, and how Bisnowaty will fit into the group.
"Bisnowaty has played a lot of football at Pittsburgh against a high-level of competition," Reese said. "He's a David Diehl kind of guy. He's going to bring that attitude every day. He's tough and he's big. He's going to bring the same intensity every day and you know what you're going to get every day from this guy. We're looking forward to getting him in here and creating some competition in our offensive line room."
At 6-foot-6 and 304 pounds, Bisnowaty finished his career at Pitt with 43 starts in 45 total games played. He earned back-to-back All-ACC honors the past two seasons, and was Mel Kiper Jr.'s eighth-ranked tackle entering the draft.
Bisnowaty isn't the only new member of the Giants' offensive line room. Reese confirmed in the interview that the Giants will add USC left tackle Chad Wheeler and Tennessee State lineman Jessamen Dunker as undrafted free agents.
Before the draft, the Giants went out in free agency and signed D.J. Fluker, who started 61 of a possible 66 games for the Chargers. The 11th selection in the 2013 draft has played guard and tackle. Hybrid fullback and tight end Rhett Ellison was also signed as a free agent. Ellison was a valuable blocker for the Vikings who helped clear running lanes for Adrian Peterson.
"We've built a lot of competition in the offensive line room," McAdoo said. "We didn't necessarily draft a guy real high, but we drafted a guy that we liked that has played a lot of football in the ACC. Bisnowaty is a tough and experienced player. Adam is going to come in and push those two tackles."
Those two tackles are Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart, last year's starters. Flowers, the Giants 2015 first-round pick, has been the starting left tackle for two seasons. Hart, a seventh-round pick in the same draft class, started 13 games for the Giants last season.
"Ereck Flowers just turned 23 and Bobby Hart just turned 22 and they've played two seasons already in the National Football League," Reese said. "They've had some ups and downs as young players, but we expect these guys to make a significant jump this season because they've been in the league already. Both of those guys could've been in this draft class."
"He [Flowers] had some good days and some bad," McAdoo added. "I feel like he played one of his best games of the year the last game of the year, which is a credit to him. I feel like he'll get better and more comfortable."
