Any and all positivity stemming from the New York Giants‘ offensive line will go a long way in repairing fans’ morale, which has been at an all-time low since that playoff loss back in 2016 to the Green Bay Packers.
Across these last five seasons, many would argue subpar O-line play plagued the G-Men, resulting in this all-time terrible stretch of football. However, the front office has attempted to remedy the issue by drafting tackle Andrew Thomas (No. 4 overall) in 2020 and tackle Evan Neal (No. 7 overall) in 2022.
Thomas, across his first two seasons, has largely been disappointing, but he started to turn it around toward the end of the 2021 season. The 2020 campaign was perhaps rookie jitters, but 2021 was a full-on failure by the coaching staff in addition to injury issues. Thomas did start to show some promise in the final eight games of the season after he returned from injury.
In 2022, he’ll be a third-year player, hopefully able to absorb more of the pressure along the O-line. And now with Neal in the picture, this unit figures to have even more size and talent than it has in years.
Thomas’ comments at training camp further echo that sentiment, as he hyped up himself as well as Neal, who’s the newcomer with high expectations this time around.
"He's a physical freak. Once he gets this down, he's going to be pretty good."
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) July 27, 2022
- Andrew Thomas on Evan Neal pic.twitter.com/jZAMZTHPYK
Giants fans will love Andrew Thomas’ comments at training camp
Physical freak! We like the sound of that — even though we already knew it! Thomas also said Neal “works hard every day” which is the exact mentality the Giants need if they want to work themselves out of this rut.
Thomas and Neal book-ending the Giants’ offensive line for years to come is the plan, and it simply has to be one that succeeds to ensure a potential turnaround. The former Georgia star then talked a bit about himself and said he plans to be more of a leader and make the O-line “dominant.” Yes, please.
Andrew Thomas says technique, camaraderie are at the core of OL success, he plans to take more of a leadership role in this offensive line room. “The goal is to be dominant.”
— Madelyn Burke (@MadelynBurke) July 27, 2022
Giants fans, whether they like Thomas or not, should be impressed by this mentality considering all the criticism he’s faced in a short amount of time on a team that was largely a dumpster fire. He’s not focusing on the outside noise, though. He’s not even comparing himself to other tackles around the NFL.
He concerned with his progress and his progress only.
Andrew Thomas isn’t looking around the league to gauge his progress at left tackle, “Honestly I’m just in competition with myself,” sums up his goals as “being more consistent overall”
— Madelyn Burke (@MadelynBurke) July 27, 2022
At the end of the day, the Giants will be facing an uphill battle no matter what. There’s still so much to be done even with head coach Brian Daboll taking over as well as Joe Schoen remaking the roster.
However, a positive discourse at training camp that gives fans more of a reason to look forward to 2022 will be crucial, because it’s much better when there are good vibes in New York rather than the back pages magnifying all the bad.
NY Giants depth chart entering training camp
The NY Giants training camp is here and there are going to be some epic battles for jobs. Here's a look at the full depth chart.