5 significant questions for the NY Giants offensive line this season

2. Can John Michael Schmitz help turn this line around?

The one draft pick that generated perhaps the most buzz among most Giants fans was the second-round selection of center John Michael Schmitz. Some mock drafts had Schmitz going as high as the later part of the first round, mostly to the Giants since they were the one team considered to have the greatest need at center.

Many felt the Giants landing Schmitz in the second round was a steal given his talents and how highly ranked he was amongst all the centers in the 2023 NFL Draft. Center has been a position for the Giants that has been a bit of a revolving door ever since Shaun O’Hara hung up the pads for an analyst role.

One of the last centers the Giants drafted highly, Weston Richburg, who was also a second-round pick for the Giants in the 2014 NFL Draft, left to take a free agent deal. But before he did, he was one of their most frequent players at center.

Same with Nick Gates, who returned from a serious leg injury that almost cost him his career. Gates, like Richburg, signed elsewhere when he hit free agency, as he got a deal with the Washington Commanders. Jon Feliciano, who started at 15 games for the Giants last season at center, also left town to sign with the San Francisco 49ers.

The center job is now Schmitz’s, and he’s been given the expectations to not just have the job, but to give the offensive line a bit of a makeover. He’s a mauler who some think could have the kind of impact on the line like Creed Humphrey did with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs were one of the top-ranked units in the 2022 season.

Schmitz will be given some tough tasks in stopping the pass-rushes that the NFC East teams currently have. But if Schmitz can live up to the hype surrounding him entering the draft and into his pro transition, then maybe he was the one piece needed to help turn the Giants line around with his fortifying the center spot.