Big Blue View
The New York Giants lost a heartbreaker in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys. A 40-37 overtime result tarnished a valiant effort from a Giants’ offense that mustered just six points in Week 1 against Washington. There were plenty of positive takeaways from the loss, though; one being the performance of rookie fifth-round pick Marcus Mbow.
Mbow was forced into action after a catastrophic meltdown from James Hudson III — a veteran free-agent addition in the off-season. Hudson III committed four penalties on the Giants’ opening drive, and quite possibly prevented an explosive touchdown to Darius Slayton:
Hudson III was benched after the drive and Mbow — who spent a significant portion of training camp at right tackle — relieved the $6 million-a-year investment. Mbow comported himself well; he wasn’t perfect, but was a marked improvement over the veteran.
Here are all Marcus Mbow’s snaps from Week 2:
My two targets on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft were Cam Skattebo and Marcus Mbow. I was pleased when the Giants were able to select both. Here is my pre-draft analysis of Mbow:
Marcus Mbow is an undersized offensive lineman with short arms, but he overcomes those physical deficiencies with athleticism, intelligence, and competitive toughness. He’s very nimble and quick on his feet, with an explosive nature to his game. He takes good angles of attack with elite adjustment ability, due to his hip mobility and his controlled movement skills. Mbow must improve his anchor in pass protection, and could stand to be more patient and use his hands more effectively. Overall, his athletic ability can be an asset, but he must iron parts of his game out while adding more sand in his pants if he’s going to be successful in the NFL.
I was unsure how Mbow would hold-up at tackle prior to the draft. He has 32-inch arms (1st percentile) and an 80-inch wingspan (13th percentile), while weighing in at 303 pounds (15th percentile). Those size limitations carry concern. Still, Mbow’s abilities, especially his smooth feet, are more than capable of earning a realistic shot at tackle, as the Giants saw.
Mbow had a 59.3 PFF grade, which was second best on the offensive line behind Jermaine Eluemunor. Mbow surrendered two pressures. After the game, head coach, Brian Daboll said:
“There are things to clean up, but he’s a young professional who has worked on his craft.”
Daboll is correct. There were a lot of positive takeaways, but the rookie’s anchor and framing were not perfect; we’ll go through that, and his impressive reps, below.
[Marcus Mbow is No. 71 and is playing left tackle.]
We’ll start with the two pressures surrendered. One was on a botched LB/end twist pick-up and the other, unfortunately, transpired on Russell Wilson’s interception.
First, Mbow has a quick and explosive kick-slide with feather-like feet — that’s obvious from his film. However, he did not anticipate the hammer. His handling of the linebacker on the twist was hindered...
