5 significant questions for the NY Giants offensive line this season

For as long as many can remember, the NY Giants offensive line has been an area of concern heading into the season. Even back when Eli Manning was still leading the team into the final seasons of his Hall of Fame career, the offensive line was always a worry.

Going back to the 2013 season when the final parts from the 2011 team that won the Super Bowl started to close out their careers, the Giants were finishing in the mid-to-late 20s as far as ranks go. When Daniel Jones took over for Manning in 2019, the Giants had their best ranking over the last 10 years; they finished 17th in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.

After that, the Giants lines have finished 31st in 2020, 30th in 2021 and even during a playoff season in 2022, they finished 30th again. If anything, the offensive line playing this poorly with Saquon Barkley’s production is a clear case for the Giants to pay him.

On the other side of that, the Giants giving Jones a four-year, $160 million contract was a reason for Joe Schoen to turn around and improve the line drastically because Schoen needs the line to protect their investment at quarterback heading into the 2023 season. So, with the season rapidly approaching, what concerns surround the Giants offensive line heading into the upcoming year?

5. Will Evan Neal showcase major improvement in 2023?

Everyone was excited to see the Giants land Evan Neal with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Most figured the Giants now had their next right tackle who could help anchor the right side with Andrew Thomas on the other side for the next 10-15 years.

While Neal had his moments where he looked the part of holding his own, he also had his struggles during the season. Neal allowed seven sacks and 22 hurries during his rookie season. At times, he looked like an NFL rookie who had a lot to learn.

There were some bright spots during Neal’s rookie campaign; the victories against the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts had him graded out highly in both the pass and run block.

Neal decided to take his improvements to another level, as he worked alongside former Cincinnati Bengals right tackle Willie Anderson to improve his stance and technique this offseason. Anderson is considered one of the best right tackles to ever play in the league, so kudos to Neal for picking a really good mentor to help him work on his skills and improve for next season.

In order for the Giants offensive line to take the next step, Neal needs to improve drastically from what we all saw in his rookie year. Granted, rookies can go through those growing pains early on, but now the Giants need for Neal to look and play the part of a veteran in that second year.

4. Who is the left guard?

Heading into the 2023 season, this could be the one position where it is a bit of a mystery because no one knows for sure who will get the start at left guard. On paper, Ben Bredeson might be the leading player to get the starting left guard spot; he played in 11 games for the Giants and started eight of them. In his 11 games played, Bredeson didn’t allow a single sack, which is definitely something that helps his cause.

Bredeson also allowed just nine hurries and two quarterback hits, which again, will help his cause to get the left guard spot in 2023. But it’s not a guarantee he’s given the job when the Giants hit Week 1. Second-year lineman Joshua Ezeudu should be back from the neck injury that kept him out for the second half of the season after appearing in 10 games and starting in two before landing on season-ending injured reserve.

The Giants will also have another second-year lineman in Marcus McKethan returning from a season-ending ACL tear that cost him his entire rookie campaign. The Giants also have Shane Lemieux, who was once a former starter at left guard during his rookie season in 2020, but because of injuries, Lemieux has only played in two total games since that.

At this point, Lemieux is a bit of a dark horse candidate because of his health and the lack of being on the field in almost three years. As far as left guard goes, it’s really anyone’s job to win during training camp and in the preseason.

3. Can Mark Glowinski improve his production?

Due to Dave Gettleman leaving Joe Schoen an absolute mess to work with as far as the salary cap went in Schoen’s first season as the Giants general manager, he didn’t have a lot to work with. But one of the moves Schoen made early on last season in free agency was the signing of Mark Glowinski to a three-year, $18.3 million deal.

Health wise, Glowinski held up, as he was on the field for 16 games and played all of them at right guard. His play though, varied at times. He allowed five total sacks with 22 hurries and four quarterback hits in 2022.

Some fans even wanted Glowinski cut in the offseason to make way for the younger lineman on the team like McKethan and Ezeudu, but because of the $8.65 million cap hit on Glowinski, his release was not happening.

But what the Giants will need from Glowinski is a bit of an improvement, especially in the pass blocking part of his game that was graded out as his weakest skill, whereas his run-blocking was decent enough to keep his job and have him penciled in to be the Giants right guard when training camp hits and in all likely, when Week 1 is here.

But can Glowinski be good enough to where the Giants don’t cut him after 2023? His release would save $5.7 million with only a $1.5 million dead cap hit, so if Glowinski wants to see that third season on his deal, he’ll need to be better than what we saw in 2022.

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.

1. When does Andrew Thomas get paid?

Remember when the Giants didn’t win out on the “Chase Young Bowl” leading into the 2020 NFL Draft? The Giants consolation prize of losing out on drafting Young and dropping to the fourth spot was Andrew Thomas, who has emerged as one of the very best left tackles in all of the NFL.

Thomas had some struggles early on in his career, but his third season saw a dramatic turnaround in his play from being a decent left tackle who allowed 12 total sacks in his first two to allowing just three total in 2022 and was one of the highest ranked and graded left tackles in the league.

So the question now isn’t whether or not the Giants have their left tackle of the present and future because Thomas is clearly that guy. The question is when do the Giants pay him that long-term deal? The Giants have already picked up Thomas’ fifth-year option for the 2024 season at $14.1 million, which for Thomas’ abilities, is a bargain. Some could see Thomas getting a deal starting in the $20-plus million range.

Laremy Tunsil got a three-year deal that is paying him around $25 million per season. This may be the kind of deal that Thomas and his agent looks at for when he sits down with Schoen to discuss and decide his future with the Giants. The Giants could also go the same way the San Grancisco 49ers did with Trent Williams when they gave him a six-year, $138 million extension back in 2021, a deal that pays Williams an average of $23 million per season. These are likely going to be some of the starting points in Thomas’ extension talks.

Just like the Giants did with Daniel Jones and Dexter Lawrence and hope to do with Saquon Barkley, they will likely try to extend Thomas as well and keep him part of the current and long-term plans. He'll be worth every penny.

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