Vaunted Giants O-line could see some changes

Late in the 2008 season, the five Giants offensive linemen huddled above a camera and posed for a picture that would appear on the cover of a national magazine and tout them as the NFL's most valuable players.

In October 2009, their streak of 38 straight regular-season games as a starting five came to a brief end before it resumed for another six games.

And now, as the Giants move toward the 2010 season and focus on this week's draft, the unit's future is becoming fuzzy.

David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O'Hara, Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie have been the backbone of the offense for the last few years. But by Week 2 of this upcoming season, four of them will be at least 30 (O'Hara, who will turn 33 this summer, is the oldest; Snee, the youngest, will turn 29 in January). Rumblings have been heard about changes on the front line as soon as this summer . . . maybe as soon as this draft.

"You love continuity," general manager Jerry Reese said last week. "If you have the five guys, that's a good thing. But at some point, age comes into play and injuries come into play and you have to have some new blood to infuse into any position."

The turnover began at this time last year, when the Giants drafted Will Beatty in the second round. That was a rather high pick for a player who, if everything went according to plan, should not have seen the field in 2009. But he did, replacing right tackle McKenzie in the four games he missed with an injury.

Reese has been blunt about wanting Beatty to compete for the left tackle job in training camp. "We drafted Will high," he said. "We expect Will to challenge for his spot, create some competition at offensive line."

The Giants might be looking to provide more competition this week in the draft. If any of the players they are looking at to plug defensive holes are not available with the 15th pick, they might trade down and try to snag an offensive lineman in the first round. If the right player is available at 15, they might even grab him right there.

Certainly, the team will be looking to stockpile some highly touted talent at the position in the first two days of the draft.

How does that sit with the guys who already are there?

"As a veteran, I've always said it's a great draft if they don't draft anyone at your position, and if they do, how high does he go?" O'Hara half-joked.

None of the five linemen has been told of any immediate changes. "Everyone is pretty much where they were last year, as far as I know," McKenzie said.

But the specter of new faces has caught the attention of the veterans. They understand that the clock is ticking on their tight five-man unit that has been together through too many practical jokes, midweek dinners and positional meetings to count.

"If there is a change, I don't think it will be undeserved, and I think everyone will adapt to that just like we would at another position," O'Hara said. And McKenzie added, "At some point in time, a couple of us will be older and retired or moved out of the way. It will happen eventually. Hopefully, not for a while."

McClain misdiagnosed? Alabama LB Rolando McClain, who said at his pro day he's had Crohn's disease since high school, is being told by doctors that he does not have the condition. "In all my talks with my doctors in the past two weeks, with all the tests we've done, they don't even feel I have Crohn's disease," he told the Birmingham (Ala.) News. "All I can say is, the doctor who diagnosed this [now], it's his job to diagnose it. All I can do is go by his rules." The Giants have an eye on McClain in the first round.