The New York Giants had many needs going into the 2020 NFL Draft and addressed several of them, such as offensive tackle, safety and depth at linebacker, but there are still two glaring holes in their roster.

General manager Dave Gettleman still has no lead-pipe cinch answer at center, and the pass rush — a bone of contention among fans for years now — is still without a prominent face, or faces.

Gettleman could have drafted a quality center in Temple’s Matt Hennessy or LSU’s Lloyd Cushenberry had he not forked over his third round selection (No. 68 overall) in the ill-conceived trade with the Jets for defensive lineman Leonard Williams last October.

Instead, Gettleman was forced to watch a river of talent, including those two players, flow by him as the Giants did not have a pick between selection No. 36 and 99.

They now have to turn to Plan B at center, which is exceptionally fluid at the moment. The Giants’ likely starter is Spencer Pulley, who is considered a placeholder. Jon Halapio, last year’s starter who is rehabbing from an Achilles injury and is currently a free agent, is still in the mix as well.

After that, there is guard/tackle Nick Gates and fifth-round pick Shane Lemieux out of Oregon, a guard by nature who is cross-training to also play center.

“We are going to turn around and cross train Shane Lemieux and we’ve got Nick Gates who we are going to work with,” Gettleman told reporters after the draft. “You have Spencer Pulley, a returning center and we’ll see what happens with Pio with his Achilles. We’ll see what kind of recovery he makes. We feel like we have three to four guys, two of whom have played the position with varsity competition. Nick worked at center last year during practice and of course Shane’s never done it in a game and we’re going to cross-train him and see where it goes. We’ve got two centers in the building that have played varsity snaps and have played winning football. ”

Okay. As for the pass rush, Gettleman was asked why he didn’t use a pick on a pass rusher, even though seven of the team’s 10 selections were spent on the defensive side the ball, and if last year’s sack leader (free agent Markus Golden) was in their plans.

“No, we didn’t draft what you guys would call a blue-goose pass rusher, but a lot of the time it’s a group effort. It’s not about who gets the sacks, it’s about the number of sacks and the number of pressures,” he said.

Gettleman believes that scheme and having a strong secondary can make up for not having talented pass rushers up front. The tail can wag the dog in a sense.

“I’ve seen what scheme can do to free people up, it’s an effective way to do it,” he said. “Obviously we’re getting better in the back end, force the quarterback to hold the ball a little longer. Again, there’s a million ways to skin the cat. You guys were raised on the blue-goose pass rushers, rushing with four, and the drafts and the accumulation of players just worked out that way. There’s a number of ways to do it. Like I said, I was here for that run and I saw what a blessing it is when you can rush with four. There’s no reason to say we can’t do it now and also can do it with scheme. So again, there’s a million ways to do it, guys. There’s not just one way.”

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