NFL Draft 2022: 3 prospects worth New York Giants trading up for

Evan Neal, OT, Alabama

The Achilles heel of the New York Giants, and the one position that the franchise has continually gotten wrong every season of the last decade, is the offensive line.

Schoen has taken many steps to address the offensive line issue this offseason, signing Mark Glowinski to a three-year, 20-million-dollar deal, to start at one of the guard positions, likely right guard, and also signing ex-Bill, Jon Feliciano to start at center.

Those signings are both significant upgrades over their predecessors. With Andrew Thomas blossoming into a franchise left tackle, the Giants have voids at left guard and right tackle to fill.

Alabama offensive tackle, Evan Neal, the only 6’8, 337-pound lineman with a full six-pack of abs, would be perfect to fill the longtime right tackle void.

In an ideal world, Neal would just fall into the Giants’ laps with their number five pick and trading up would not be necessary.

But, assuming two pass rushers go with the first two picks, which all indications point to, there is a decent chance the Texans and Jets, picking third and fourth respectively, both with needs at offensive line, would take Neal and/or North Carolina State standout tackle, Ikem Ekwonu.

Should the Giants front office receive intel that one or two of these tackles, who are in a class of their own, won’t be available for their number five pick, especially if that player is Neal, the Giants should call the Jets or Texans and see what it would take to move up (though it seems unlikely Schoen would trade any significant draft capital when the Giants have so many holes). Securing a franchise tackle is a desperate need for the team to be successful in the future.

There are many reasons why Neal is a necessity for the New York Giants. He is the most developed, NFL-ready tackle in this draft class. Playing in the SEC, Neal has been going up against NFL size and physicality the entirety of his college career, including in practice, where, for the last two years, he has been going up against outside linebacker, Will Anderson Jr., the likely number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Neal is rock solid on tape, with his physicality and technique standing out most. The best game of his college career was in 2021, against Texas A&M, where, according to PFF, he gave up zero pressures on 58 pass-rushing snaps, against a loaded Texas A&M defensive line that features potential first-round pick, DeMarvin Leal. Neal also allowed just one pressure in the entirety of the 2020 College Football Playoffs against Notre Dame and Ohio State.

Neal has a tremendous amount of versatility as well. In his three years at Alabama, Neal started one season at left guard, one season at right tackle, and one season at left tackle, earning awards for his play at all three. While Neal would likely slide in at right tackle to start for the New York Giants, his versatility would allow him to potentially slide over to left tackle and protect the Giants quarterback’s blindside, if Andrew Thomas were to miss time like he did this past year.

Bolstering the offensive line by having two bookend tackles in Neal and Thomas would allow the Giants to properly evaluate Daniel Jones and learn, once and for all, if he is their franchise quarterback.