NFL Nation

          Giants Twitter mailbag Part I: Starting lineup questions

          The draft and rookie minicamp gave the Twitterbag the last two weekends off, but we are back and ready to handle your #nygmail-tagged Twitter questions again this week.

          More tomorrow!

          @DanGrazianoESPN: The Giants like Robert Ayers and considered him a valuable part of their defensive line rotation prior to his season-ending injury last year. But the sense I get is that they see Ayers as just that -- a strong rotational piece who, if he got a full starter's workload opposite Jason Pierre-Paul, might get exposed a bit. They really like that left defensive end to be someone who can set the edge against the run, and that's not Ayers' strength. But he is a good pass-rusher, and the fact that he can move inside and rush from a defensive tackle spot as well as a defensive end spot gives him a kind of versatility that appeals to them. Look, someone's going to have to start at that spot, and Ayers is one of the candidates right now along with George Selvie and Damontre Moore. That's not a group that's going to be impossible for him to beat out, but he has to show first that he's healthy and second that he can be more of an every-down defensive end than he's shown himself to be so far in his NFL career. The Giants aren't averse to just rotating guys in that spot depending on situations if no one steps forward as the clear-cut "starter."

          @DanGrazianoESPN: I think the best bet right now is Will Beatty at left tackle, Justin Pugh at left guard, Weston Richburg at center, Geoff Schwartz at right guard and Ereck Flowers at right tackle. But a lot is yet to be determined. They don't know for sure whether Schwartz will be healthy or whether Flowers will be ready. It's entirely possible Pugh holds off the rookie and keeps right tackle and that someone like John Jerry or Brett Jones wins one of the interior spots. But that lineup I gave you is, I believe, what the Giants hope it looks like. Just guessing on the sides for Pugh and Schwartz -- I honestly have no idea which guy they'd prefer in which guard spot, but I doubt it matters much.

          @DanGrazianoESPN: I wrote about this Thursday and ran through some of the options, but you're right to be concerned, and the Giants are. I think McBride gets first crack at it if he's healthy, but Mike Harris is a guy they like there as well. If he can't handle it, then maybe someone like Jayron Hosley or Chandler Fenner. But they don't have the safety net (pun intended) that they used to have when they could just move Antrel Rolle down in there, and they would like to find someone in camp who can handle it reliably. I'll say this -- the fact that they didn't play on Kyle Arrington when the Patriots cut him this week indicates they're okay with their options at that spot. I'm not sure they should be, but they don't tend to listen to me.