Where will Will Beatty play on the Giants’ offensive line?
Will Beatty back pedals during a game against the Washington Redskins at MetLife Stadium. (Oct. 21, 2012) Credit: Getty
Will Beatty isn’t worrying about which position he’ll play.
“The goal is to make it on the field,” the once-former and now newest Giants offensive lineman told the team’s website. “You find a home on the field, you want to keep that home. The goal is that I prefer to be on the field and not on the bench. Just being here, having the chance, the opportunity, that’s all I can ask for… I’ll do my best to show that there’s a spot for me, not only on the team but out there on the field. When we’re out there under the lights, game day, I can contribute to this team in a great way.”
Beatty should get that opportunity. That, after all, is why he’s here. With a lack of offensive line depth and some question marks among the starters, Beatty likely will find a place on the field in the near future once he gets back into football shape.
He hasn’t played in a game since December 2014 – a layoff that is only two and a half months shorter than what seems to be the interminable span between games for Victor Cruz – and is coming off pectoral and shoulder surgeries that cost him the 2015 season.
“I was able to rehab and really start getting back on track,” he said. “I had that one goal, to make it back here. There were a lot of hurdles and a lot of obstacles that I had to overcome but it was still: ‘It’s not over yet. You still have a lot more in you.’”
Beatty, 31, can play left tackle, as he did for the Giants in his last full season of 2014 when he was their most consistent lineman. That would mean moving second-year tackle Ereck Flowers from the left side to the right, which is how the Giants wanted their unit configured last season before Beatty was injured.
Beatty also can play right tackle, which is where he started his career with the Giants. He would replace Marshall Newhouse there and leave Flowers on the left side.
He can even play guard, he said. The only spot he doesn’t think he can handle is center.
“I never snapped the ball,” he said. “That’s a whole different ballgame right there.”
Before any of that takes place, Beatty needs to get re-acquainted to the team that cut him in February and get re-acclimated to football.
“I just feel like I’m coming home,” the 2009 Giants draft pick said. “Then again, walking through the doors, there’s a lot of changes. A lot of things aren’t the same. It’s that same house that just got remodeled feel.”
Beatty is remodeled himself. His shoulder is fully healthy and he says he is ready to get to work.
“But you just can’t believe it, you have to show everybody what you can do,” he said. “That is by getting healthy and getting right. This is only the beginning. I still have to put the pads on and show everybody what I already know. It only works if you go out there and you show them. All my talking is going to be done on the field.”
Which position he does that talking from remains to be seen.
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.
