Giants 2021 roster profile: C Brett Heggie
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Is former Florida center a UDFA find for the Giants?
Quality offensive linemen, especially at guard and center, don’t have to be players selected early in the NFL Draft. Could undrafted center Brett Heggie turn into a valuable player for the New York Giants?
Let’s take a look as we continue profiling the 90 players the Giants will bring to training camp in a few weeks.
The basics
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 310
Age: N/A
Position: IOL
Experience: Rookie
Contract: Year 1 of three-year, $2.425 million undrafted free agent contract | Guaranteed: $0 | 2021 cap hit: $660,000
Career to date
Heggie signed with the Giants after a successful career as an interior lineman at Florida. He played in 41 games, starting 31. He played center in 2020, but appeared at both guard spots in 2018 and 2019.
2021 outlook
Nick Gates is entrenched as the Giants’ starting center. Jonotthan Harrison is a veteran player with 84 games of NFL experience. He’s likely to be the backup.
Heggie?
Former Giants scouting intern and current founder and owner of Maverick Sports Consulting David Turner told the ‘Valentine’s Views’ podcast he believes Heggie is an “incredible center” could be the center of the future for New York.
“I watched a lot of Florida film. When I watched Brett Heggie in the middle he didn’t get pushed, he didn’t lose a crown, he didn’t lose an inch when people were coming at him,” Turner said. “I think Heggie is really going to be the center of the future, and he could be a right or left guard initially.
“Dave has in his past identified guys in the trenches and moved them forward into the starting lineup really quickly, and Heggie to me is one that can be the next guy in that line.”
In his 2021 draft guide, Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote:
Heggie has projectable size and awareness desired at the center position. He is quick to introduce his hands and work his body into position, but he doesn’t play with thunder in his punch to jolt/control defenders. He is too content to stalemate the point of attack, lacking the drive power to create consistent movement. Overall, Heggie is a tough, physical blocker with experience at center and guard, but he doesn’t have ideal power or athleticism for the NFL game.
During mandatory mini-camp Heggie generally worked as the Giants’ third center. If he stays there on the depth chart it might not be enough to land him on the 53-man roster, but it should be enough to earn him a berth on the practice squad.
