by Paul Schwartz
There was a suspicion heading into this season that the Giants roster, from top to bottom, was deeper than most and if the old, reliable “only as strong as your weakest link’’ bromide rang true, this team would fare better than most.
It now appears the Giants are deeper than first suspected and that means they are built for the long-haul of a grinding NFL season.
The greatest area of concern remains the offensive line, where the loss of David Diehl to a knee injury leaves the backup situation, to be kind, tenuous. And keeping enough cornerbacks healthy is an ongoing headache, with Corey Webster (broken hand), Prince Amukamara (high ankle sprain), Jayron Hosley (hamstring) and Michael Coe (hamstring) all either coming or going out of ailments that leave coach Tom Coughlin in the “What can I say?’’ frame of mind.
Already, the Giants have leaned heavily on an 11-day break after their first game and their current 10-day cushion between games 3 and 4 as healing time for various pulls and strains. They can take the field in droves at linebacker, where the second-unit trio of Jacquian Williams, Mark Herzlich and Keith Rivers could start, en masse, and the Giants wouldn’t feel they were short-handed.
Perhaps Marvin Austin can shake off the rust and be a forceful addition to the defensive tackle rotation and, lest we forget, Chris Canty will be back in mid-October. The emergence of Martellus Bennett as the pass-catching target the Giants hoped he would be provides another towering toy for Eli Manning. If the previous game was not an illusion, if Andre Brown at running back and Ramses Barden at receiver are ready to make real contributions, Manning’s options have greatly multiplied.
