Big Blue View
Schmitz has yet to play up to second-round draft status
There will come a day when the New York Giants offensive line isn’t a significant concern.
Today, however, is not that day.
The Giants had hoped that John Michael Schmitz would step in and solidify their center position early in his career. He was widely considered one of the top two center prospects in his draft class, and a potential first round talent. And while he’s flashed that upside, he has yet to consistently live up to his potential.
The Giants sorely need Schmitz to reach that potential and solidify the interior of their offensive line. This is his second year with offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and that stability could be the missing piece as he enters his third year.
Will Schmitz make it in 2025? Or, will the Giants need to start scouting centers?
The traits that made Schmitz a fringe first-round prospect are all evident on tape, and more present on his sophomore tape than his rookie tape.
Schmitz has a good very good size for the position at 6-foot-4, 320 pounds, while also having the requisite athleticism for the position. Schmitz has a flexible lower half and is a natural knee bender. He’s easily able to drop his hips and lower his pads, giving him the leverage to deal with power from nose tackles or blunt speed-to-power rushes from blitzers or looping edge defenders.
He also has very good quickness and agility for a 320-pound man. Schmitz is easily able to redirect or mirror athletic defenders on the interior or pick up A-gap blitzes. He has very solid field awareness and constantly keeps his head on a swivel to look for work. Combined with his movement skills, Schmitz can identify pressure and cover a lot of ground when necessary.
The Buccaneers are showing a double A-gap pressure at the start of the play, and the Gints adjust their protection to account for that. Greg Van Roten picks up No. 90 as he attacks the right A-gap and ushers him around the pocket, freeing Schmitz to account for the (potential) blitzers up the middle. However, both linebackers bail into shallow coverage zones, while safety Jordan Whitehead blitzes off the edge. It’s a really well designed pressure from the Buccaneers, but Schmitz catches the blitz to his right. He’s able to get from the center position to the edge in time to pick up the blitz and let Tommy DeVito get the ball to Malik Nabers for an 11-yard gain.
Plays like that are, obviously, out of the ordinary for a center to have to make. But it does give an example of Schmitz’s athleticism and movement skills, not to mention his awareness.
Much more often, Schmitz will have to mirror athletic defenders on the offensive interior, but the same skills translate inside.
Schmitz also has the requisite play strength to hold up against power rushers, at least as long as he...
