Here we are in Year 3 of the Joe Schoen era for the NY Giants and his team is 2-5. This has come after the G-Men went 6-11 in 2023. Yes, making the postseason in 2022 was awesome and it provided fans with a glimpse of a potential bright future.
Since then, however, everything has gone wrong and the moves Schoen has made have been questionable. He's getting a ton of heat for not retaining Saquon Barkley - Barkley just ran for 176 yards and a touchdown vs. his former team in a 28-3 Philly win at MetLife.
That's one thing to be angry about. With that said, Big Blue fans just watched the offensive line be a total letdown in Week 7. Left tackle Andrew Thomas is out for the season and Schoen's backup plan for him is already proving to be a nightmare. Joshua Ezeudu, a 2022 Schoen draft pick, is not the answer.
Okay, the Joshua Ezeudu experiment at LT is a fail. Time to try something else immediately.
— TheGiantsWire (@TheGiantsWire) October 20, 2024
Joe Schoen banked on Andrew Thomas staying healthy and it's costing him
Last season when Thomas suffered his hamstring injury, Ezeudu stepped in at left tackle and he was a train wreck. Apparently, Schoen didn't think to bring in more depth at the position. There were talks about Evan Neal being the swing tackle for the squad, but the team (so far) decided against it.
So, that's two draft picks from 2022 who the Giants have swung and missed on. Again, Ezeudu has no business playing left tackle. He simply is not an NFL caliber starter and even Bill Belichick called out Schoen and Brian Daboll for trotting him out there.
Then there's Neal, the No. 7 overall pick in '22. The Giants don't trust him. If they did, he'd be on the field. Moving Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle and inserting Neal back at right tackle could be a risky move, but if the Giants aren't willing to give up on him, then give him a shot.
Giving Thomas his monster extension was a no-brainer, as he's an All-Pro talent. However, not being prepared in case he went down again was a massive failure on Schoen's part. It completely changed the way the line as a whole performed against Philly, with the group up front giving up eight sacks. Next up is a tilt against a talented Pittsburgh defense. Another rough night could be on the way and that's going to be on Schoen.