Tag: Ben Wilkerson

Top 101 LSU Football players of all time: No. 60-51

The countdown continues with some DBU greats and some old-time linemen.

The countdown continues as we complete the first half of the best 101 football players in LSU history.

As we get closer to the top spot, the players are getting better and better, and thus, harder to rank.

I have tried to avoid recency bias as much as possible. It can be hard to get enough information about older players, but I did my best to get them about in the ballpark of where they should be.

Anytime there’s a list this big, people will disagree. There’s so little that separates the 50th player from the 70th, and so on.

I tried to balance consistency over multiple seasons with some players that had one great year. Both have been rewarded here. With that in mind, let’s continue the countdown.

Giants so thin along O-line that Ben Wilkerson is taking practice snaps

The New York Giants are currently so thin along their offensive line that assistant coach Ben Wilkerson is taking practice snaps.

The New York Giants currently find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation. They’re thin along the offensive line. Extremely thin.

With retirements and injuries mounting, the Giants found themselves in such dire straits during practice on Wednesday night that they needed an emergency body to fill in.

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Enter assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson.

If you think we’re kidding, we’re not. The Giants didn’t have enough players to conduct a walkthrough so Wilkerson was forced to step in and play left guard for the second team.

The 38-year-old Wilkerson, who is in his fourth season with the Giants, last played for the Florida Tuskers of the UFL in 2009. Prior to that, he spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals (2005-2006) and Atlanta Falcons (2007-2008).

Why is Wilkerson’s former experience significant? Because it sheds a light on just how bad this situation for the Giants really is.

The fans, who were attendance for the first time since December of 2019, recognized the significance of the issue and began chanting “Joe Looney,” who announced his retirement last week.

Who the Giants are is evident. They’re a very talented team that has serious issues along the offensive line. Not only did they play poorly a season ago, they’re dropping like flies here in 2021 before the first preseason game has even been played.

How the Giants correct this issue now is anyone’s guess, but they continue to insist they’re confident with the group and the depth they have.

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Report: Ben Wilkerson will interview for Giants’ vacant O-line coach position

The New York Giants will interview current assistant O-line coach Ben Wilkerson for their vacant offensive line coach position.

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The New York Giants’ hunt for a new offensive line coach continues this week and one of the upcoming interviews will be conducted in-house.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports that assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson will interview for the full-time role.

As Raanan alludes, head coach Joe Judge has been impressed with Wilkerson and would like to keep him in East Rutherford.

“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Ben. He’s a good coach. He’s a good, young coach. Draws from a knowledge of playing the game. He’s a very good communicator. He has a very good passion for the game. The players respond to him very well. He’s great on the field with technique instruction, and he’s very good in terms of communicating and forming relationships off the field,” Judge said in early January.

“Look, this is a guy, to be honest with you, when I got here last year, Ben was down at the East-West Shrine Game coaching. We had more requests put in for Ben Wilkerson last year while he was down there. This is a deal where I talked to him before he went down there, I said, ‘I won’t make any moves on the staff without talking to you first.’ Then we agreed when he got back that I would like him to stay, he wanted to stay, we made some arrangements with the contract, and I’m glad to have him on our staff going forward. This is a guy that obviously we want in the program. He’s going to help us going forward.”

After Dave DeGuglielmo contracted COVID-19 and was forced to remain home during Week 17, it was Wilkerson who stepped in to coach the offensive line.

In addition to Wilkerson, the Giants are also going to interview Mike Devlin for the position.

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Giants’ Dave DeGuglielmo tests positive for COVID-19

New York Giants offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has tested positive for COVID-19 and been isolated.

The New York Giants announced on Friday that offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has tested positive for COVID-19 and was immediately isolated.

In addition to DeGuglielmo, two potential close contacts were also isolated, although the Giants did not disclose if they were assistant coaches or players.

“The Giants have been informed that offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has tested positive for COVID-19,” the team said in a statement. “He was immediately isolated, as were two potential close contacts, and we are currently working with the league’s chief medical officer. Quest Diagnostics Training Center remains open, and the team is following its normal practice and meeting schedule today.”

DeGuglielmo will not be with the Giants on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys as a result of the positive test. He will likely be replaced by Ben Wilkerson, the team’s assistant offensive line coach.

Head coach Joe Judge will meet with reporters at 11:25 a.m. ET. Practice remains on schedule for 11:50 a.m. ET.

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Report: Giants, Joe Judge will keep Ben Wilkerson on staff

The New York Giants will keep assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson on staff under Joe Judge.

Incoming New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has kept precious few members of Pat Shurmur’s previous staff, hanging onto just special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, and special teams assistants Anthony Blevins and Tom Quinn entering the weekend.

However, you can add one more name to that holdover list as The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports that assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson will also be retained.

Wilkerson was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted rookie free agent out of LSU in 2005. After two seasons with the team, he made a stop with the Atlanta Falcons (2007-2008) before landing with the Florida Tuskers (now the Virginia Destroyers) of the United Football League (UFL) in 2009.

After his retirement, Wilkerson returned to LSU as a graduate assistant in 2011. He then moved onto Grambling State (2012–2013) as an offensive line coach before breaking into the NFL with the Chicago Bears from 2015-2017 where he served as an assistant offensive line coach.

Wilkerson followed Pat Shurmur to the Giants in 2018 and will now remain at least through the 2020 season.

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