Big Blue View
The line is functional now, but is it set up for the future?
The New York Giants won the 2011 Super Bowl with help from an aging, creaky offensive line on its last effective legs. Since then, the line they have trotted out has more often than not resembled a sieve.
Three general managers, five head coaches, and many offensive line coaches have tried to fix it. None has had more than fleeting success.
Current GM Joe Schoen has culled together a 2024 line that has at least been competent, even with star left tackle Andrew Thomas out for the season.
Let’s look at what Schoen has gotten right and wrong on the offensive during his three seasons as GM, as well as what remains to be done.
Current roster: Jermaine Eluemunor, Jon Runyan Jr., John Michael Schmitz, Greg Van Roten, Evan Neal, Chris Hubabrd, Josh Ezeudu, Aaron Stinnie, Jake Kubas
Injured reserve: Andrew Thomas
Players drafted since 2022: Evan Neal (Round 1, No. 7, 2022) | Josh Ezeudu (Round 3, No. 67, 2022) | Marcus McKethan (Round 5, No. 173, 2022) | John Michael Schmitz (Round 2, No. 57, 2023)
Biggest free agent acquisitions: Jon Runyan Jr. | Jermaine Eluemunor | Greg Van Roten | Mark Glowinski | Jon Feliciano | Justin Pugh
Biggest losses: Ben Bredeson | Feliciano
There is no way to look at this pick, even if almost every reputable draft analyst in the business thought at the time that Neal deserved to be picked where Schoen and the Giants took him, and say anything other than that it turned out wrong.
Neal played terribly during his first two seasons, and he wasn’t healthy enough to practice and play regularly enough to give himself a legitimate chance to show substantial improvement.
Something about the way Schoen conducted that 2022 draft, when he had picks 5 and 7, has always gnawed at me.
Schoen said when he picked Neal at No. 7 that he did so “because Ickey was gone at six.” That referred to the Carolina Panthers taking offensive tackle Ickey Ekwonu at No. 6. Did Schoen get cute by taking edge Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5 and miss out on the tackle he wanted? If Ekwonu was his No. 1 offensive tackle, he probably could have taken him at No. 5 and still grabbed Thibodeaux at No. 7.
I will probably never know the true answer to how Schoen had those players rated.
Neal played well in his first start of the season in Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers. Maybe he can still rescue his career. I hope he can.
Schoen selected Josh Ezeudu in Round 3 and Marcus McKethan in Round 5. They were starters on a North Carolina Tar Heels offensive line that allowed 49 sacks during the 2021 season, 128th out of 130 FBS teams. Even if some of...
