Giants offensive line out to prove NFL-worst assessment wrong: ‘On our shoulders’

To celebrate a 20-year anniversary, a new generation of Giants offensive linemen were gifted the same biting criticism that once helped to fuel a transformation.

During a preseason broadcast in 2004, then-ESPN analyst Joe Theismann declared that the Giants — after finishing No. 31 in sacks allowed and No. 28 in rushing yards the season prior — had the NFL’s worst offensive line.

There was no way to know then that newcomers Shaun O’Hara and Chris Snee would become culture-changers, and Theismann’s words would become a multiyear rallying cry for the foundational pieces of two Super Bowl winners.

“We wore that like a badge of honor,” O’Hara recalled years later. “We were not going to let them say that about us.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same: Theismann is retired, but a different authoritative voice — analytics-based Pro Football Focus — ranked the Giants as the NFL’s worst offensive line after the draft and free agency, writing that “even after earning the worst offensive line grade of any team in 2023, the Giants did very little to improve their unit this offseason.”

Right guard Jon Runyan Jr. — whose three-year, $30 million contract was the biggest free-agent outlay aimed at improving the No. 30-ranked scoring offense — disagrees with that assessment.

“We have a job to do and we know this organization really invested heavily in the offensive line and elsewhere this season,” Runyan said. “That’s the priority, and we’re wearing that on our shoulders.”

Runyan, 26, left guard Jermaine Eluemunor, 29, and offensive line coach Carmen Brucillo were the notable additions after the Giants allowed the second-most sacks (85) in NFL history last season.

The rest of the plan for improvement involves hoping injury-plagued All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas stays healthy, center John Michael Schmitz improves dramatically in his second season, and injury-plagued right tackle Evan Neal both stays healthy and improves dramatically in his third year.

If not, there is more game-tested depth (Aaron Stinnie, Austin Schlottman) than last year.

The first 10 years after Theismann’s criticism — coinciding with Eli Manning’s prime — resulted in a golden era for the Giants.

But if he made the comment in 2014 instead of 2004, he would’ve looked like a soothsayer because the Giants arguably have been the worst for running on 10 years while cycling through seven offensive line coaches and busting on virtually all major acquisitions (Nate Solder et al.), mid-level veteran acquisitions (Patrick Omameh et al.) and premium draft picks (Ereck Flowers et. al.)

“Outside criticisms are always going to be there,” Kareem McKenzie, who joined the Super Bowl-winning offensive lines in 2005, later said. “The guys in the room are the ones who hold each other accountable.”

The response to owner John Mara’s decree in March that “it’s time to get [the offensive line] fixed” and his expectation “for us to be a hell of a lot better this year” actually is one of the riskiest plans undertaken during that time.

The Giants are counting on Neal despite no evidence that he can live up to being the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft.

They are playing Eluemunor out of position rather than letting him battle Neal to start.

Those two decisions combine to leave Josh Ezeudu as the swing tackle despite last year’s film and metrics — his pass-block win-rate was one of the NFL’s worst, per ESPN — suggesting he is a better fit at guard.

The front office doesn’t see it that way as it tries to rebuild Ezeudu’s shattered confidence.

“As an offensive lineman, confidence is one of the biggest factors in being a great player,” Eluemunor said. “You have to be able to go out there on third-and-long and know what it’s going to take in order to get the job done. The way the O-line is going right now, the confidence is growing and it’s really cool to see.”

PFF recently ranked the NFL’s top 32 guards. Neither Runyan nor Eluemunor was included, but three former Giants (Kevin Zeitler, Will Hernandez and Mark Glowinski) made the list.

Other teams getting more out of Giants’ castoffs is a troubling offensive-line trend over the last decade.

Runyan, who left the Packers, is looking to make the reverse happen.

“When you first get in the league, you’re trying to figure out where you’re going to fit in, stuff is flying through your head,” Runyan said. “I submitted myself as a good player in this league, and I feel like it’s time to take that next step. I also feel like it’s time for the Giants to take the next step to win the division, get in the playoffs, and make some noise in the big dance.”

The Giants went from (allegedly) worst to first 20 years ago.

Time has been on a negative loop since then.