The New York Giants will conduct their fifth practice of their 2025 training camp on Monday, and the first one in full pads.
That is why we will focus on the battle along the interior of the offensive line. The hitting will be for real on Monday, and we will finally be able to begin to gauge who could win the jobs at guard and, yes, even center.
The Giants headed into camp with John Michael Schmitz at center, Jon Runyan Jr. at left guard, and the 35-year-old Greg Van Roten at right guard. They will likely try that trio on Monday, but there will be quite a bit of swapping, mixing, and matching.
“We will get into the lineman here in the next couple of days when we get power rushes and games, and there’s a variety of things, but the line has been working good together,” head coach Brian Daboll said on Sunday. “We’ve got one more day here until we get the pads on.”
The Giants are hoping Schmitz, in his third season now, can take the next step and become a quality center. They have others behind him should he not take that next step. Van Roten is one option. Austin Schlottmann, Jimmy Morrissey, and Jake Kubas are three others.
At guard, Runyan is fairly secure, but general manager Joe Schoen had to settle on bringing Van Roten back after failing to sign a top free agent this spring.
Evan Neal, a former top-10 draft pick, is being shifted from tackle to guard this summer in a last-ditch effort to salvage his Giants career. Another Schoen draft pick, Joshua Ezeudu, will be in the mix, as will be Aaron Stinnie and Kubas.
Neal has received some first-team reps over Van Roten earlier in training camp, and a padded practice will likely provide more clarity on that battle.
Then there is the possibility that rookie Marcus Mbow could unseat incumbent Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle, although that is unlikely. Still, both players could be simply too good to bench, and one could end up at guard.
There are a lot of moving pieces and some jobs on the line. The Giants would like to start their best five.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants training camp: Position battle to watch on Day 5
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
