Can the Giants’ blocking become less offensive in 2024?

Where do we even begin?

Let’s start by listing the starting offensive line positions that are set on the Giants for 2024:

Andrew Thomas, LT

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It’s that bad. Coming off a 2023 season performance that was the lowest in Pro Football Focus’ grading system of any team in the two decades they’ve been in business, things could hardly be more bleak. To put the Giants’ season average 43.4 PFF pass blocking grade into context, let’s find a specific game that illustrates it.

How about the 2011 NFC Championship Game, when Eli Manning had the you-know-what kicked out of him all evening by the 49ers. The Giants’ OL that night graded 41.1 (6 sacks, 4 other QB hits, 37 total pressures). It’s no accident the Giants went through three quarterbacks in 2023. They had a whole season of quarterbacks being abused like that.

Some of you are skeptical of PFF grades, so here is hard data on how quickly quarterbacks around the NFL were pressured in 2023:

Pro Football Focus measures time to throw for all quarterbacks. For most the average time to throw (TTT) is within 0.1-0.2 seconds of the time to pressure (TTP) numbers above. For example, for Patrick Mahomes, TTT = 3.03 s, TTP = 3.16 s; for Brock Purdy, TTT = 2.71 s, TTP = 2.61 s; for Josh Allen, TTT = 2.90 s, TTP = 2.83 s; for Jordan Love, TTT = 2.72 s, TTP = 2.85 s; for C.J. Stroud, TTT = 2.93 s, TTP = 2.72 s.

Daniel Jones, though, had a league low TTP of 2.31 s, but an average TTT of 2.85 s. So his league-high (by a lot) 52% of pressured drop backs weren’t mainly due to him just holding the ball too long; rather, he was running for his life literally half the time. Tyrod Taylor had a somewhat better 2.58 s TTP, but a larger TTT of 2.83 s with a 36% pressure rate. In other words, Taylor was getting rid of the ball as quickly as Jones was but had a bit more cushion to do so, because the offensive line started to block a little better as the season went on. Tommy DeVito had the luxury of a 2.90 s TTP, and on average his TTT was 3.09 s. That high TTT was indeed often due to DeVito holding the ball, as opposed to players near him on the chart like Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, and Justin Fields, who are preternatural scramblers. Jackson and Hurts just do it by habit – they play behind good offensive lines. Giants quarterbacks do it because they’re shell-shocked.

Why the Giants’ offensive line was so bad last year is largely a mystery. Certainly Andrew Thomas’ injury early in the disastrous Game 1 was the major blow, but the roster construction left much to be desired (and that is a mystery itself). It was never obvious why Tyre Phillips did not make the initial 53, who the Giants considered their swing tackle to be in his absence, and why Matt Peart made the 53 if they weren’t going to use him when Thomas went down.

On the inside, right guard Mark Glowinski had an awful first game against Dallas, but after four games at left guard and another two at right guard in which he mostly played well (four games with above average PFF grades), he was mostly benched the rest of the season except in jumbo packages. Why?

Through it all, the line seemed to experience miscommunication over and over, leading to free rushers everywhere. It happens. Even in the Super Bowl, where ex-Giant Jon Feliciano kindly threw teammate Spencer Burford under the bus (apparently incorrectly) after a crucial whiffed block late in the game:

The amazing thing is that the pass protection improved when the Giants signed Justin Pugh before the Buffalo game. It wasn’t because Pugh blocked well – he didn’t (37.8 pass block grade in 12 games). It seemed instead that he helped improve communication among the mostly young offensive linemen.

It also improved when Thomas returned. The Giants’ three worst pass blocking games by PFF grade (SF 15.7, MIA 16.9, NYJ 38.7) all happened when he was out. Four of their five best pass blocking games occurred when he got back (WAS 60.1, NE 71.5, NO 61.5, PHI 74.5). It’s not a clean comparison because the Giants played better teams when Thomas was out than after he came back on the whole, but it’s hard to believe that his absence didn’t make a difference.

And we haven’t even talked about Evan Neal yet. No one really has an explanation for why he’s struggled so much. The issues he had coming out of college (e.g., balance) were thought to be easily correctable, and he had so many other elite traits and such excellent performance at Alabama that he was considered a perfectly logical pick at No. 7. Some people have argued that he’s been playing out of position at RT since he played LT at Alabama. That is incorrect. He played three of the four T/G positions in his three years:

Courtesy of 2022 PFF Spring Draft Guide

How much of this is on ex-offensive line coach Bobby Johnson is hard to say. Certainly he took the fall for it (an appropriate idiom considering how often Giants’ offensive linemen wound up on the ground rather than engaged with the player they were supposed to be blocking). How much falls into Joe Schoen’s lap is uncertain. You can’t blame him for not using draft resources on the line – three picks in his first season and another one last season, all but one on Day 1 or 2.

The (modest) improvement when Pugh joined the team suggests that one issue was the 2023 Giants’ lack of experienced offensive linemen. But why then bench Glowinski when he was playing well? Did the fact that they started a rookie center, John Michael Schmitz, create problems in calling protections? Maybe, but in the disastrous Miami game Schmitz was out with an injury and four-year veteran Ben Bredeson was at center. He was the one changing the protections before the snap on the play in which Neal made no attempt to pick up the edge rusher who steamrolled Jones. Speaking of Bredeson, the guy started every game last season, bless his heart – but three at left guard, then four at center, then eight at right guard, before finishing the season back at center. It has to be hard to develop consistency that way.

And not a word of this even speaks to the Giants’ run blocking. That was terrible, too: A 41.1 PFF grade, third-worst in the NFL only because the Chargers and Jaguars were even a bit worse than that. How many times last season did we see Saquon Barkley burst through a hole with no one touching him? Rarely. More likely, he was hit at or near the line of scrimmage. If you’re Brandon Jacobs or Marshawn Lynch maybe you can run in the absence of a hole, but Barkley is a back who needs something to work with – spin-o-ramas and dipsey-doodles will only get you so far if there’s nowhere to run. The Giants couldn’t even run a tush push well, not only missing the yard they needed in the Seattle game but getting JMS and tight end Daniel Bellinger hurt in the process, which further degraded the line.

How many Giants offensive linemen should return for 2024?

Just like the quarterback situation, Joe Schoen faces difficult decisions with the offensive line. In both cases, 2023 was supposed to be the season in which key players (Daniel Jones, Evan Neal) solidified their roles as key starters. Instead, both are question marks coming into 2024. So, just as I have suggested that the Giants must acquire a quarterback this offseason if for no other reason than to guard against the chance that Jones is not ready by Week 1 or doesn’t play well when he is ready, so too must they have a plan in place for how to replace Neal at right tackle if Carmen Bricillo can’t unlock the potential he seemed to have. Neal will certainly return to the roster for year 3, though, unless he decides to flip burgers instead.

Besides Thomas, Schmitz will certainly be back as the starting center. That’s because he was a second-round draft pick, not because he played great. Schmitz finished with a 26.9 PFF pass block grade for the season, 54th of 55 centers who played at least one pass blocking snap. (Who was No. 55? Jaylon Thomas, another Giant, who graded 26.4 in three pass blocking snaps.) Schmitz started to play better the second half of the season, recording 62.7, 63.5, and 55.1 grades against New England, Green Bay, and New Orleans. Then he fell off a cliff against teams with a good interior rush, grading 42.5 in Philadelphia and 0.0 against the Rams. Sean Harlow did grade 73.3 in 15 snaps in Dallas, if we want something to hang our hat on.

The disappointing thing about JMS is that even his run-blocking was subpar (51.3), and that was his strength coming out of college. If Schmitz can’t improve in 2024, the Giants will likely have to replace him in 2025, but he will get this season to show what he can do. That said, the Giants need a plan for a backup center. Bredeson had the worst year of his career in 2023 (42.1 PFF grade), but he was serviceable the two years before (56.2, 57.5), and he can play center as well as guard.

At tackle, Neal is coming off January surgery for a broken bone in his ankle. He will get a chance in training camp to show he can be effective under Bricillo’s tutelage, and barring a complete meltdown he will make the 53. It’s mostly a question of whether the Giants move him to left guard, where he played his first year at Alabama and where he can be next to Thomas, which can’t hurt. The issue is, what is Plan B at right tackle if things don’t trend upward for Neal in camp?

Tyre Phillips is not a long-term answer as a starting right tackle, but he’s a perfectly good option as swing tackle. However, he is a free agent and is coming off January surgery for a torn quad tendon. That leaves the enigmatic Matt Peart, who looked good against Chase Young as a rookie, completely fell out of favor in the Rob Sale part of the Joe Judge era, and was apparently Bobby Johnson’s last option as well…until the Giants had to play him the final two games and he was sort of OK (55.5, 51.1 PFF grades with no sacks allowed). Entering 2024 with Neal, Phillips, and Peart as the only options at RT is actually not an option. Peart is also a free agent.

At guard, things are even more muddled since no one on the 2023 roster ever grabbed one of the positions and established themselves. Glowinski has a $7.2M cap hit in the final year of his contract, so it’s unlikely the Giants bring him back considering his banishment to the bench (although with a new OL coach you never know). Joshua Ezeudu played poorly to say the least (42.4 PFF grade) before being sent to IR with an injured toe. He too had surgery in January. Certainly he’ll be back on the roster as a third-round pick only entering year three, but he hasn’t shown he can be a starter. The same goes for Marcus McKethan, a fifth round pick two years ago who has also not made a case for starting. We have to guess that Justin Pugh will not be back given his age and that his actual play was not good (though in his defense part of it was as an emergency left tackle). I think we can also conclude that the oft-injured, rarely effective Shane Lemieux experiment has run its course. Jalen Mayfield showed little in very limited snaps; let’s cross him off too. Finally, the Giants had Wyatt Davis on their practice squad. A 2021 third round pick, he’s never been able to establish himself as a realistic option on an NFL 53; let’s assume he’s gone.

How can a phoenix rise from the ashes at MetLife in 2024?

Here’s my scorecard:

Under contract and definitely returning (5): Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal, John Michael Schmitz, Joshua Ezeudu, Marcus McKethan (that last one maybe not definite)

Definitely gone (5): Mark Glowinski, Shane Lemieux, Jalen Mayfield, Justin Pugh, Wyatt Davis.

Free agents (4): Tyre Phillips, Matt Peart, Ben Bredeson, Sean Harlow

That leaves room for either three or four additions to the 53 for 2024, depending on how many OLs the Giants want to roster. My guess is that they try to re-sign Bredeson because he’s a veteran and can play center as well as guard, but he should be a backup rather than a starter. If so then there is no need to keep Harlow and they can try to stash him on the practice squad. I doubt that the Giants sign or draft a center this year. I can imagine one of Phillips or Peart returning as swing tackle, not both.

That means the Giants need to be in the market for two starting-caliber guards, and an at least borderline starting-caliber tackle, if e.g. they decide to put McKethan on the practice squad. Let’s try to find some for them, using PFF’s free agent rankings that include Over The Cap estimates of potential contracts.

Free agents

The Giants desperately need competent veteran leadership on the OL. If I am GM, I am going swimming in the high end of the FA pool for a guard. A team can tolerate two highly paid offensive linemen at a time, and it does not at this point look like Neal is getting a big contract after the 2025 season. The Giants could bring Kevin Zeitler back to atone for the sin of the Gettleman regime, and he’d only cost about $7.5M per year for two years. Zeitler is 33, though, and it’s not clear that he’d want a team viewed as rebuilding, or that a rebuilding team would want someone who may start declining just as they’re ready to contend.

Let’s instead use a little cap magic to fit a high-end veteran guard into the spending plan. The two best guards in the PFF rankings are (1) Kevin Dotson, most recently of the Rams, 27 years old, 84.4 PFF grade, and (2) Robert Hunt, a former Dolphin, also 27, and with a 76.4 PFF grade. Dotson gave up four sacks and 24 total pressures last season, while Hunt only surrendered one sack and five total pressures, albeit in about two-thirds as many snaps as Dotson because he missed a few games. Both are estimated to cost in the neighborhood of four years, $70M total contract value. Dotson is best in a power gap rushing scheme, Hunt in a zone rushing scheme, so which is more desirable may depend on who the Giants featured running back is and what approach Daboll prefers.

If those are too rich for Joe Schoen, he might try Dalton Risner (57.1 PFF grade overall, but pass block grades bordering on above average through his career. Risner, 28, yielded no sacks, 30 total pressures in 2023. He is estimated to get three years at $8M per year.

At tackle, there aren’t really any top dollar players available, since it’s a highly valued position and the best ones always get paid. A relatively affordable option would be Mike Onwenu (26 years old, 71.5 PFF grade), who is estimated to cost four years at $14.5M per year. That’s not outrageous for a quality tackle, and Onwenu has experience playing right tackle and both guard spots, so he might be a valuable asset for an offensive line that has question marks at multiple spots.

With Bricillo in town, though, it’s logical to wonder whether the Giants have a chance to get former Raider Jermaine Eluemunor (29 years old, 68.5 PFF grade), who is estimated to cost two years at $7.25M per year. Eluemenor has played both right and left tackle as well as right guard. Or maybe the Giants forget about the high-end free agent guards, sign both Onwenu and Eluemenor, and between the two of them and Neal, right tackle and the two guard spots are covered without breaking the bank.

The 2024 draft

It’s fun to think about free agents, but between possibly looking for a veteran quarterbak, trying to keep Xavier McKinney in New York, and addressing edge defender, that cap space disappears in a hurry. Most likely the Giants can only make one “splash” move in free agency on the offensive line this year unless Schoen starts going all Howie Roseman and re-structuring contracts with void years as far out as the eye can see. So let’s see what problems the Giants might fix in the draft.

Some of you excoriated me for not drafting an offensive lineman on Day 1 or 2 in my previous piece on the pass rush. OK, have it your way:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

There’s a decent chance that Joe Alt will turn out to be a great NFL player, although as a Giant he’d have to move from the left to the right side. I’m not really taking him (or Olu Fashanu, who went next) at No. 6 this year, though, if I’m Joe Schoen. If Daboll is going to move or bench Neal this season, it has to be in favor of a veteran tackle who can step in and provide quality play on Day 1 rather than a rookie who may experience his own growing pains. If you think that can’t happen, think back to 2020. The four big offensive tackles in that draft were considered interchangeable as far as the order in which they would/should be picked, with opinions on OT1 changing almost daily leading up to the draft. As things turned out, only the Giants and Buccaneers chose wisely, and for the Giants that wasn’t obvious until year 2.

In Round 2, I picked the two highest-ranked guards on PFF’s board. That’s not the most ridiculous thing imaginable given the quality of guard play the Giants have had in recent years. But PFF hated it – they gave me failing grades on both. That’s because Haynes is No. 64 on their big board and Mahogany is No. 85, i.e., they are reaches at No. 39 and No. 47. Partly it is because guards are not valued as highly as tackles.

Let’s get more realistic about drafting OLs on Day 1 and Day 2. PFF has eight offensive tackles with first-round grades, consistent with opinions elsewhere that this is a deep draft for offensive tackles. They have no guards with first-round grades, but four of them with second- or third-round grades. Let’s try to take advantage of that and let the draft come to us while addressing the Giants’ great needs for difference makers at skill positions on offense, as well as on the defensive line. Specifically, if Round 1 is deep in tackles, trade down.

This time, Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze came off the board in that order before the Giants were up at the plate. Of course Jayden Daniels was sitting there since those five were gone. In an actual draft, I’d take Daniels if he’s there. PFF has him No. 22 on their big board, which seems unrealistic to me, but who knows? The point of this article, though, is to fill out the offensive line. On PFF’s big board, once you get past the top five, the middle of Round 1 is almost devoid of offensive skill players until Daniels. Las Vegas was interested in a trade, so I gave them No. 6 in return for Nos. 13, 44, and 77.

Again, I could take Daniels, but keeping with the oft-heard theme of Schoen not wanting to go quarterback in the first round (none of us has any idea how he actually feels), I’ll now indulge the need to fix the offensive line by doing this:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

I’ve now got Taliese Fuaga (No. 11 on the PFF big board, and the highest ranked RT) as a possible fix at right tackle, plus once again Christian Haynes to slip in at guard (which PFF still doesn’t like as high as No. 47, but for this article I didn’t want to wait until Round 3 for a guard). Fuaga is a beast in the run game. In the passing game he’s considered to be less developed; some analysts think he’ll move inside in the NFL. If you prefer a tackle who’s better at pass protection, JC Latham (No. 18 on their big board, and their second-highest ranked right tackle) was available also, unless Alabama tackles scare you off after the Neal experience. Either way, it would give the Giants an optionif Neal can’t improve and if they don’t sign a free agent tackle.

I also addressed what I perceive to be some of the Giants’ other greatest needs. Bo Nix isn’t a bad consolation prize after skipping Daniels. Xavier Worthy isn’t Harrison or Nabers or Odunze, but in this draft I never had a chance at them anyway. By using No. 13 on an OT, I missed the second wave of wide receivers that occurred late in the first round (Troy Franklin, Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey, Keon Coleman), but I got a pretty good one anyway. And Booker and Fiske hopefully add some juice to the defensive line.

The bottom line

The Giants have other needs that will be discussed in articles to come: A cornerback opposite Tae Banks, maybe a safety, maybe a running back. The offensive line is up there, though, as probably the No. 1 priority. What this article shows is that there are options, both in free agency and the draft, that could improve things in a hurry. The Giants don’t need the best OL in the NFL – Kansas City’s was ranked 18th by PFF and San Francisco’s 21st. They just need a capable one to give their quarterback a chance to actually run the offense as designed. Two free agents and two draft picks on Days 1 and 2 might do the trick. Even one free agent and two draftees, or two and one, might be OK. Anything would be better than the current situation.