Joe Schoen should sign this veteran OT as soon as possible

The Giants got whooped 40-0 by the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. No unit deserves more blame for the humiliation than the offensive line. All five offensive linemen struggled Sunday, combining to give up seven sacks. According to PFF, Big Blue gave up 27 pressures, 19 hurries, and three hits.

Mark Glowinski gave up three of those sacks and allowed nine pressures. Evan Neal gave up eight pressures, while John Michael Schmitz gave up three pressures and had a costly botched snap. Even Andrew Thomas allowed three pressures and three hurries.

All five linemen posted brutal pass-rush win rates. So, could some help be on the way for the Giants offensive line?

Pass block win rates for Giants vs Cowboys: (rate + ranking)

LT Andrew Thomas 88% (32nd)
RT Evan Neal 70.6% (59th)
LG Ben Bredeson 90.0% (32nd)
RG Mark Glowinski 75.8% (56th)
C JM Schmitz 90.3% (18th)

Neal was 59th out of 60 qualifying tackles in Week 1. Glowinski was 56th out…
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 11, 2023

Joe Schoen must fix this group fast to save the 2023 season

Earlier this week, the Cincinnati Bengals released offensive lineman La'El Collins. Schoen should look to add Collins immediately to bolster the Giants offensive line depth.

Collins was signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and has had a lengthy and successful career. Collins joined the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022 and had a topsy-turvy inaugural season with the Bengals, ending when he tore his ACL in Week 16. Collins received just a 57.2 PFF grade for his 2022 efforts.

In 2021, Collins was dominant at right tackle, playing 671 tackles offensive snaps and allowing just two sacks. PFF gave Collins a 76.2 pass-blocking grade, 89.8 run-blocking grade, and 82.0 overall grade. Collins did not play in 2020, but posted similar elite numbers in 2019 to his 2021 output.

After being cut by Cincinnati, who was desperate to open up salary cap space, Collins will be hungry and ready to prove he can still play at high level. Coming off his ACL injury, Collins should be ready to go within the next few weeks.

One added benefit of Collins is versatility. He played guard during the first two seasons of his career before switching to tackle. If he joins Big Blue, he could replace Glowinski at right guard and serve as an upgrade at backup tackle over Matt Peart. Schoen should be on the phone with Collins right now, and it wouldn't hurt to call Justin Pugh as well.

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