Big Blue View
The New York Giants’ offensive line has drawn praise for its pass protection over the first two preseason games, having allowed just two sacks and posting the third-best Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade (73.0) in the NFL.
Even quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jaxson Dart have issued praise. Wilson said after the Week 1 game against the Buffalo Bills that the line had done a “good job keeping space” in the pocket. Dart said the line was “amazing.”
Veteran right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor on Monday threw some cold water on the celebration about the line’s performance.
“I don’t really put too much stock in the preseason,” Eluemunor said. “I think it doesn’t really count for much. Obviously, it looks good but you can’t really base things off preseason. I think everyone individually is doing what they’re meant to be doing and we practice hard going against a really good defensive line so that helps too, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in the preseason because you don’t win any Super Bowls in the preseason.”
Eluemunor reminded that the level of competition isn’t always what teams will see in the regular season.
“Sometimes, technically you’re not going against their best players, so for me personally and the standard I have and I’m sure the standard we have in the o-line room, we’re not really looking at it too much,” Eluemunor said. “Obviously, it’s probably cool for the fans to see the o-line perform like that but as an o-line, we have such a high standard and where we want to be that we’re just going out there and doing our jobs.”
That, though, does not mean the eight-year veteran has doubts about the line.
“I think it’s going to be a great unit. Me personally, I think we’re going to have a great offensive line,” Eluemunor said. “I don’t really put, like I said, too much stock in the rankings and stuff like that but I think we’re going to have a really good unit. We have the pieces, we have the depth and we have the coaches in place where we work really hard in practice.”
Eluemunor added that practicing against the Giants’ talented defensive line is a plus.
“We’re going against really good defensive line so that’s really helping us also because how many times are we going to see a d-line than what we’re going against?,” he said. “(Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence) Dex, (outside linebacker Brian) Burns, (outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux) Thibs, (defensive tackle) Roy (Robertson-Harris), (outside linebacker) Abdul (Carter), (defensive lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches) Nacho, that unit is (a) really good freaking unit so we’re taking game reps every single day when we put the pads on and even when we’re just in jerseys and helmets.”
The Giants are still without left tackle Andrew Thomas, who remains of the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list s he recovers from Lisfranc surgery. Still, there have been good signs.
We will see if Eluemunor is right about the quality of...
