The New York Giants changed just about everything they could this offseason. General manager Joe Schoen seemingly put together what looks to be a really strong draft class, completely overhauled the linebacker room, and entirely revamped the defensive line after the blockbuster Dexter Lawrence trade.
They added explosive new faces to the receiver room, brought back an old friend in Odell Beckham Jr., and prioritized size like a tourist takes selfies by prioritizing guys like Francis Mauigoa, Isaiah Likely, and Patrick Ricard.
Yet, despite the massive influx of USDA Choice beef, there are still holes throughout the roster. The 6-foot-4, 340-pound Lawrence void is one of them, and I don't know who's feeling confident about the secondary. Over at NFL.com, analyst Matt Okada pointed to fourth-year center John Michael Schmitz as the team’s ultimate remaining weak link.
Don't get me wrong, he's definitely a weak link, but Schmitz isn’t even the most glaring liability on his own unit. That distinction belongs to starting left guard Jon Runyan.
John Harbaugh’s run-heavy offense exposes glaring Giants weakness
JMS might get most of the (unwanted) attention, but it's the guy to his left who's quietly the bigger issue. Runyan put up a terrible 52.9 overall Pro Football Focus grade last season, ranking 67th out of 81 eligible players. Schmitz's season wasn't much better (60.8 overall grade), but show me the obvious upgrade.
If head coach John Harbaugh and Co. are trying to establish a physical, run-heavy identity in East Rutherford -- newsflash: they are -- how can they trust a starting guard who just posted a career-worst 49.2 run-blocking grade? For reference, in six seasons, he's never posted a run-blocking grade above 59.0.
It’s all but impossible to overlook how much of a concern the 6-foot-4, 307-pounder actually is for an offensive line that otherwise finished ninth in PFF’s team rankings last year.
Runyan is a smooth, technical pass protector, but he is a terrible fit for Harbaugh’s smashmouth, gap/power scheme offense. Runyan wins with footwork and positioning in zone schemes, not by manhandling defenders into other galaxies.
Harby wants violent, heavy-handed maulers who aren't afraid to use their size and power to their advantage. Because Runyan lacks that explosive, brute force, he's just a total mismatch for what this new-look offense wants to do.
The pressure is already mounting on the soon-to-be 29-year-old veteran. Harbs didn't just bring his coaching acumen to North Jersey; he also brought his preferred prototype, signing former Ravens lineman Daniel Faalele later on in the offseason.
Standing at an "am I reading this correctly" 6-foot-8, 380 pounds, Faalele looks more like a mountain than a human. In theory, he's the perfect meat-and-potatoes guy for the power-rushing scheme Harby wants to run (pun intended).
Runyan might have the edge right now, but Faalele has four years of scheme familiarity under Harbs in Baltimore, along with the size this new-look Giants offense is looking for. This could quietly be one of the more interesting, under-the-radar training camp battles to watch this summer. If Runyan can't figure it out when the pads come on, Faalele might just pull the rug right out from under him.
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