Erick Flowers’ release by the New York Giants wasn’t a surprise. He’s struggled since coming into the league in 2015.
But Flowers’ inability to bloom as a blocker points to a growing problem in the league. It’s harder and harder for teams to develop young blockers. Everyone knows the reason. Colleges produce blockers from Spread or Air Raid offenses.
They aren’t trained to put a hand on the ground and drive into a defensive player with leverage. What used to be a position teams drafted with certainty. Most general managers figure a first-round tackle could be penciled in for a good 10-year career. Now, there is no guarantee a first-round such as Flowers can make it through his rookie contract.
Even worse, it’s creating a roster void in which having quality backups are harder to find because there isn’t a pipeline being developed. One or two injuries along the line could stifle an offense and take points off the scoreboard.
“It’s kind of like the quarterback position,’’ a general manager said just told me. “They used to say it’s hard to fill 32 teams with 32 quality quarterbacks. At tackle, it’s hard to fill the 64 roster spots for tackles on 32 teams.’’
Check out the numbers:
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