One of the more disappointing events of this New York Giants season has been the performance of the offensive line. The lack of foresight combined with injuries has undercut any hopes of the line improving in 2021.
Another setback has been the lack of development of second-year tackle Matt Peart, a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft that the team believed would take a huge step this year.
Instead, Peart has become a backup to veteran Nate Solder, of all players. The reason why Solder is starting over Peart at right tackle is simple. He’s better at this point of time.
“Plain and simple, you watch every play when Andrew was out, body of work, Nate’s the better player right now,” offensive line coach Rob Sale told reporters on Thursday.
Sale also said that Solder was more physical and that Peart needs to “go out there and put your hands around somebody’s neck and freaking choke ’em.”
We have seen that in Peart’s play that he is not finishing and not playing with that chip on his shoulder. Offensive tackles need that ‘killer instinct’ and Peart has yet to show that.
The fact that a player such as Solder, well past his prime, has overtaken Peart on the depth chart illustrates one of two things — or both — that Peart was over-drafted and/or he’s so bad that the Giants must resort to starting Solder.
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