NFL Nation

          Could rookies Mykkele Thompson, Owa Odighizuwa earn starting roles for the Giants?

          Thanks again for your Twitter mailbag questions and for using the #nygmail tag so I could sort through them all so easily.

          @DanGrazianoESPN: I addressed this a bit Friday in this post, which was part of a larger NFL Nation project in which each ESPN team reporter had to answer the question of which rookies could start for his or her team this year. I agree that tackle Ereck Flowers and safety Landon Collins are likely New York Giants starters in Week 1, but in addition to them it's also possible that fifth-round pick Mykkele Thompson could still win the starting free safety job. I'm not saying he's done anything to earn it yet, but it was clear from talking to the Giants' coaches this past week that no one has, and that Thompson will enter camp with as much chance at the job as anyone. The Giants like his range and instincts (though his size does seem to be a major question mark), and if he emerges as the guy best equipped to handle the calls and lead the defense, he could beat out the likes of Nat Berhe and Cooper Taylor for the job. And I do think they view third-rounder Owamagbe Odighizuwa as a player who could play a key role this year if he develops quickly. His lost OTA practice time due to injury could hurt his chances to contribute right away, but if you're looking for a dark-horse rookie who could start at some point this year, he's a guy on whom the coaching staff is very high.



          @DanGrazianoESPN: No, that's not what they think. But remember how this plan came together. They wanted to move Justin Pugh to left guard, where they think he can be a star, and their plan was to play rookie Ereck Flowers at right tackle and Will Beatty at left tackle, with Marshall Newhouse as the backup to both. But then Beatty got hurt, and rather than tear up the plan, they stuck with what they wanted to do with Pugh, moved Flowers to left tackle and made Newhouse the springtime starter at right tackle. That doesn't mean it's the final plan. They could decide Pugh needs to go back to tackle for the good of the team, even if he's a left guard in the long term. They could sign someone from the outside. They could give Brandon Mosley or Geoff Schwartz a shot at right tackle in the summer. There were first-team reps during minicamp in which Pugh played left tackle and Mosley played right. I think this is a puzzle that it far from solved, and I don't think the Giants are married to anything right now on the offensive line outside of Weston Richburg at center. But their preference going into this offseason was to make Pugh a guard, and if they can get by at tackle, they'd like to proceed with that.

          Happy Father's Day to all those of you out there celebrating it.