Big Blue View
The New York Giants were happy to welcome Andrew Thomas back to the lineup in their Week 3 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Thomas underwent surgery on his left foot last October (Lisfranc) and had a screw removed from his surgically repaired foot in April. The Giants had a plan to slowly introduce the star left tackle back into the lineup, so Thomas played just 28 snaps on Sunday (42%).
Rookie Marcus Mbow relieved Thomas and struggled against the heavy-handed Kansas City Chief pass rush. Thomas, however, had the highest PFF grade of the Giantsβ offense (low-bar), and ESPN had Thomas with a 100% pass block win rate.
The 26-year-old signed a five-year extension worth up to $117.5 million with $67 million guaranteed. Thomas, though, has struggled to stay healthy. Since the end of 2022, Andrew Thomas has missed 18 games. Seeing Thomas active has become a rarity, and his presence is desperately needed on this offense devoid of consistency.
Below are looks at Andrew Thomas from the game:
The Giantsβ only red-zone touchdown on the season was this 13-yard scamper by Cam Skattebo (44), and I love seeing Andrew Thomas HYPED after the run. Thomas helped Jon Runyan Jr. (76) displace the 4i-shade off the split-zone with orbit motion that also removed Jayden Hicks (21) as a box defender.
Thomas also got in the way of Charles Omenihu (90) who tried to squeeze around Daniel Bellingerβs (82) cap block. Well executed with an excellent cut from Skattebo.
Thomas does a great job adjusting his path after the 4-technique went inward toward Jon Runyan Jr. Thomas showed great feet adjusting to find Drue Tranquill (23), who was originally stacked behind the technique. Thomas did an adequate job driving Tranquill outward, but interior push collapsed the 3 hole in the play-side B-Gap.
Thomas explodes, low-to-high, into contact and drove the wide defender, Charles Omenihu, off the line of scrimmage. Everything is tight; hands, elbows; his feet are driving through the deck, allowing for maximum power. This is a great sight.
PISTOL, 12 personnel run where Thomas gets Malik Herring (94) out of the way, which allowed Skattebo to find space up to the second level. He held up just long enough (with a subtle hold), to give the Giants a 7-yard gain on the ground.
I love this scoop block by Thomas, who acted as a trio with Runyan and Chris Manhertz (85) against the technique and the 4i-shade. Thomas was supposed to be the backside of this run, but Skattebo cut inside off the Bolton penetration. Bolton did an excellent job reading the play and attacking the 1 hole (A-Gap), and John Michael Schmitz (61) was slow to get to the backside of the play.
Thomas helps Manhertz on the line of scrimmage, before setting his sights on the second level defender; he also assisted with the 2-techique that was uprooted by John Michael Schmitz and Runyan Jr. Unfortunately, the backside pursuit defenders easily crashed down...
