John Fennelly , Executive Editor

Under Bill Parcells, the Giants prided themselves in having the “big asses” in the trenches. Parcells believed the game was won and lost on the line of scrimmage. Of course, the game has changed radically since those “smashmouth” days but there is still something to be said about winning those trench battles.

In recent years, the Giants have been relatively soft up front compared not only to their teams of yesteryear, but to their current rivals and contemporaries. The Giants defensive line got trampled on the ground last year. In 2011, they were last in rushing offense. John Mara wants his team to re-establish themselves on the the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

“We need to re-establish that toughness in front,” Mara told FOXSports’ Alex Marvez and co-host Jim Miller on SiriusXM NFL Radio at the NFL owners meetings. “Teams ran the ball against us too easily last year. That’s an area of concern. And the offensive line, that performance needs to get a little better, too.”

Yes, it does. With very little left to do here in free agency outside of signing UFA OL Kevin Boothe, the Giants have to figure out how they are going to get better on that offensive line.

On defense, they signed veteran DL Cullen Jenkins and brought back Shaun Rogers, a notorious space-eater that missed all of last season.

With eight picks in the draft, the Giants can fill some holes up front. With the 19th pick, they will surely look to do that now that they have enough TEs in house after signing Brandon Myers.

If Boothe comes back, the team will have of their starters from 2012 (Will Beatty, Chris Snee, David Baas and David Diehl are the others) and prospects James Brewer, Brandon Mosley and Matt McCants in the wings. Not much room at the inn for new faces. But this draft has some interesting players at OL the Giants may find difficult to pass up.

In respect to guards, don’t expect Alabama’s Chance Warmack of UNC’s Jonathan Cooper to be around when the Giants’ select, but they could have a shot at Kentucky’s Larry Warford or Oregon’s Kyle Long (son of Howie who can also play OT). A more likely choice would be combine star Terron Armstead of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

A tackle such as Oklahoma’s Lane Johnson or DJ Fluker may be available. If so, the Giants will certainly take a long look.

The interior of the defensive line will have Jenkins and Rogers joining Linval Joseph, Markus Kuhn and Marvin Austin at tackle and Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Adrian Tracy, Adewale Ojomo and Just Trattou at DE. But there are plenty of players in this draft that break into this group as well.