Giants’ offensive line ranks 29th, per PFF

There’s been a constant drumbeat that the New York Giants need to improve their offensive line for most of the last decade.

And for most of that time, there’s been truth to that. In some cases, the line has been a convenient target when other factors have had larger roles in the team’s struggles.

Pro Football Focus isn’t confident that the Giants will get it fixed this year, ranking their line 29th in their released their pre-season evaluation of the 32 offensive lines. PFF isn’t alone, and we previously noted that Sharp Football Analysis ranks them 32nd in the NFL.

But will that be the case? Let’s see what PFF says:

29. New York Giants

The Giants’ offensive line was among the NFL’s worst in 2023, partially due to injuries. While they brought in a couple of new players in Jermaine Eluemunor and Jon Runyan to start at guard, they need their returners to improve drastically.

Center John Michael Schmitz Jr., a second-round pick in 2023, and right tackle Evan Neal, a top-10 pick in 2022, have been disappointing so far. Even left tackle Andrew Thomas staying healthy and getting back to his 2022 form wouldn’t make up for poor performances from the other young players on the line in 2024.

Raptor’s thoughts

I’ve been pretty consistent in saying that I think the naysayers will be surprised — or maybe disappointed — by the Giants’ offensive line in 2024.

The temptation is there to talk about individual players, but good offensive lines are units rather than a collection of five players. And the 2024 unit has a few things working in its favor.

The first is that the guard positions have (hopefully) been upgraded. Rewatching last year’s offense, it’s almost surprising just how poorly the guards played, and the ripple effect that had on the tackles and center positions. There were breakdowns that were blamed on John Michael Schmitz and Evan Neal that either started with the guards, or happened because they were trying to compensate for poor play next to them. That doesn’t absolve either player of their own mistakes by any means, but there was perhaps some poorly placed criticism. Likewise, it’s tough for a young player to develop when he’s also having to pick up slack for breakdowns next to him

Mark Glowinski, in particular, was so shockingly bad in Week 1 that the Giants didn’t play him again until they had no other choice. Runyan and Eluemunor should be upgrades and stabilizing presences for Schmitz and Neal.

Continuity is another thing working in their favor. The Giants spent much of camp rotating players to try and find the “Best 5”. And while there’s some merit to cross-training depth for a rainy day, that can also interfere with the chemistry among the starters. Schmitz and Neal also both lost time to injury last year, setting back their development. Neal, in particular, has missed almost an entire season (14 games) and has attempted to play through injury at other times. The team will have to make a decision regarding Neal if he suffers another injury this year, but as of now we have to assume that he’ll be healthy and able to get consistent reps.

Schmitz flashed promise as well as some frustrating lows in his rookie season. He’ll have a full off-season and camp as the starter, as well as time working with a new offensive line coach who was hired for his track record of developing players.

Taken as a whole, the offensive line should be better coached, with it’s best player returning to form, better and more consistent play from the guards, and a better situation for the youngsters to develop.

That’s a recipe for improved play.