A deeper dive into NY Giants first round target Evan Neal

With the NY Giants sitting at 4-10 on the season they currently own the No. 5 and No. 6 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, which are the best assets the organization has to rebuild.

The fifth overall pick belongs to the NY Giants and the 6th pick belongs to the Bears, however, the NY Giants acquired this pick during a trade made during last year’s draft.

The NY Giants are more than likely to have two top 10 picks in this year’s draft, and with a lot of holes on this roster, the NY Giants need to make the correct selections.

Over the next several days, GMenHQ will examine several prospects the NY Giants should target with their pair of first-round picks.

Today, we will be looking at Evan Neal, an offensive tackle out of Alabama who is arguably the best tackle in the draft:

Coming in at 6-foot-7, 350 pounds, Evan Neal is one of the most physically dominant tackles in college football.

Now you may think that with Neal’s monstrous size comes a lack of speed or athleticism, this is simply not the case.

Neal has a great burst off the offensive line which helps him dominate in run blocking snaps, gaining a 79.4 run-blocking grade, per PFF.

However, before I dive into his strengths, let’s take a look at his weaknesses, of which there are not many.

First things first, Neal has a tendency to struggle with balance sometimes on run blocking snaps, this is mostly due to his habit of over-extending. This is something that can somewhat hinder Neal’s ability to run block properly, as it can lead to him ending up on the ground often. However, this is not something I am worried about, as this can be fixed with the right coach.

What may be Neal’s only other weakness is that sometimes he has a slow reaction time to speed off the edge, this is the weakness that scares me the most, however, I am still not all that worried about it. This lack of reaction time causes him to sometimes get beat off the edge, although Evan Neal often has the strength and reach to make up for this sometimes slow reaction time.

Now onto Evan Neal’s strengths:

What is without a doubt Evan Neal’s best strength is his size, power, and athleticism. It is rare that you see an offensive lineman with such immense size also have high amounts of athleticism, just take a look at this absurd clip:

Evan Neal uses both his size and power to absolutely dominate in pass-blocking snaps, gaining pass-blocking grade of 81.5, per PFF. On the season, Evan Neal has only allowed 9 QB hurries, 1 sack, and 4 QB hits, tremendous numbers for an offensive guard turned tackle.

Another Strength of Neal is his surprising technique and footwork for someone with immense size. A lot of the time when you see an offensive tackle with the size and power of Neal they often lack proper technique or handwork, this is simply not the case for Neal.

Evan Neal possesses tremendous footwork and hand technique in pass-blocking snaps, making it borderline impossible for defenders to get around him. While this may get a little more sloppy in run blocking snaps, the fact that his technique in pass blocking snaps is so elite really makes him a special prospect.

Neal is almost a sure-shot star in this league already, while there is a good chance that Neal will not be available when the NY Giants make their selection, the NY Giants must draft him if he is somehow available at pick 5. Pairing him and Andrew Thomas at both tackle slots could potentially make for one of the best offensive tackle duos in the entire NFL.