EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When the Giants and the New Orleans Saints play Monday night, there will be at least 20 players in the Superdome who weigh more than 300 pounds. There will be fleshy linemen and muscle-bound pass rushers battling to be proved the stoutest.

And yet, despite this impressive collection of tape-measure biceps and unending necks, the strongest players on the field may well be the teams’ punters — the two players who, if things go right, will not have to knock down anyone at all.

Punters and kickers are, at least stereotypically, “the soft,” “wimpy” type, Giants punter Steve Weatherford said. But according to many of Weatherford’s teammates, Weatherford — at 210 pounds — is pound for pound the strongest player in the Giants’ weight room. He proudly works to maintain what defensive end Justin Tuck called (with only a hint of envy) a “total beach body.”

In fact, Weatherford’s build is so remarkable that he is featured in the December issue of Men’s Fitness magazine, a rare honor for an N.F.L. specialist and one that is not lost on one of his occasional training partners — Saints punter Thomas Morstead.