Just how injured was the Giants' offensive line last season?

During a very lively Twitter debate on Monday in the wake of the post discussing whether or not Eli Manning has begun to decline, former Giants' linebacker Carl Banks wondered which Giants' unit had undergone the most offseason surgeries the past three years.

Banks also tweeted that "so much focuses on the defensive talent the past few seasons few noticed the offense Limped out of training camp for 3yrs str8."

Unless Giants' team physician Dr. Russell Warren reads Big Blue View and feels like totaling the numbers for us, I don't think there is any way to get the answer to the offseason surgeries question.

What I can tell you is this. The Giants' original 2013  offensive line missed 31 starts last season (Chris Snee and David Baas 13 apiece, David Diehl 5). Throw in five missed starts for Jim Cordle after he replaced Baas, and one each for James Brewer and Brandon Mosley after they were inserted into the lineup and you have a staggering 38 missed starts from offensive linemen in 2013.

The Giants had only six missed starts from offensive linemen in 2012 and 12 in 2011.

After totaling data from Pro Football Reference I can't find a single 2013 playoff team that had as many as 20 missed starts from offensive linemen. The NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles had the same starting offensive line for all 16 games -- not one missed start the entire season.

Blame Dallas Reynolds for Eli Manning's ankle injury in the season finale if you want. Reynolds did miss the block that led to the injury, but he was the Giants' fourth center and a guy who was on the street when the regular season began. He should not have even been playing.

That is why the Giants have been collecting offensive linemen in free agency, and why it would not be the least bit stunning to see at least two of the Giants' seven picks in the upcoming 2014 NFL Draft used on offensive linemen.