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When veteran Nate Solder opted out of the 2020 season due to concerns over COVID-19, the expectation was that first-round pick Andrew Thomas would start at left tackle for the New York Giants.
That’s likely to still be the case, but don’t sleep on third-round pick Matt Peart just yet.
Giants head coach Joe Judge has remained committed to cross-training all of his players at multiple positions, and that includes both Thomas and Peart, who swapped during Thursday’s practice.
Peart earned first-team reps at left tackle, while Thomas was moved over to the right side of the line.
“He’s a guy who comes to work every day with a lunch pale and he’s improved going along,” Judge told reporters after practice. “As we said early in camp, we’re going to move our line around. We’re going to work guys at different spots and make sure we build in versatility and position depth. We had to move some guys around today for that purpose. He’s a guy who’s improved every day.”
Initially thought to be a long-term project, Peart came arrived to camp in remarkable shape and has looked every bit a starting-quality offensive tackle. In fact, Peart has been so impressive he caused offensive line coach Marc Colombo to drop the first f-bomb of training camp earlier this week.
“There’s just a lot to work with as an offensive line coach. We like what we’ve seen so far,” Colombo said, adding that Peart is a tremendous athlete. “He just looks like a [expletive] football player.”
Ultimately, the Giants will put their five best offensive lineman on the field and Peart has certainly been making his case to earn one of those spots.
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