To everyone's shock, the New York Giants traded Daniel Faalele to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday morning. Faalele was a John Harbaugh guy who followed him to New York, yet was already shown the door after just 133 days. It's crystal clear Francis Mauigoa is the starting RG.
Upon first glance, there's a lot to unpack from such an inconsequential trade. It looks like this could be Harbaugh and Joe Schoen throwing Evan Neal a bone after he was re-signed this offseason, but this isn't the case. This deal could ultimately be the nail in the coffin for the former No. 7 overall pick.
The problem for Neal is that Faalele wasn’t his only competition. Aaron Stinnie and Joshua Ezeudu are also gunning for their roster spots as depth linemen, and it seems like this trade may tilt the competition more in their favor.
Aaron Stinnie and Joshua Ezeudu may be the real winners of the Faalele trade
Even before the Faalele trade, Stinnie seemed to have the upper hand in the battle for one of the Giants’ reserve offensive line spots. The 32-year-old has been the main backup right guard despite both he and Neal being labeled as the RG2 on the unofficial depth chart.
Stinnie has appeared in 33 of 34 possible games in two years with Big Blue and has proved himself as a quality backup OL. He surrendered just eight pressures across the last two seasons, can play any of the three positions on the interior, and is a more reliable fill-in than Neal.
He also got all of the second-team reps against the Vikings and fared pretty well despite allowing a sack. His 67.3 overall PFF grade was ninth among Giants offensive players and still came in higher than Neal’s.
As for Ezeudu, he’s gotten some run as the backup right tackle this summer but has spent more time at left tackle and left guard in his career. That versatility already gives him a case for one of those reserve spots, and the Faalele trade opens up another spot on the line for him to stick around.
Ezeudu also made a strong case for himself against Minnesota. Of the 34 offensive players who took the field for New York on Saturday, he received the sixth-highest grade from Pro Football Focus. His 80.3 pass-blocking grade ranked third on the team.
Neal’s saving grace is that he somehow outperformed in pass protection, logging an 82.6 grade, which was second on the team. But even with that performance, he has still been working with the third-team offense while Stinnie has gotten the second-team reps.
Everything the Giants have seen across the last four seasons indicates that Neal still has a lot to prove at either tackle or guard. Stinnie and Ezeudu have at least shown they can give the Giants something as versatile depth linemen, and both already had a case for a roster spot before Faalele was traded.
So while Faalele being shipped to Jacksonville might look like the break Neal needed at first glance, Stinnie and Ezeudu may have gotten an even bigger one.
Add us as a preferred source on Google