Since Joe Schoen took over the reins as the New York Giants’ general manager in January of 2022, his main focus has been on fixing and building the offensive line.
Four drafts and free agency periods later, he’s still far from done. Schoen has used high draft picks and spent a boatload of money on the unit, but it is still lacking.
In a recent evaluation by Josh Edwards of CBS Sports, identifying each team’s largest remaining need heading into the 2025 NFL season, the offensive line was at the top of the list for the Giants.
Time will tell if New York made the correct decision to trade up for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, but to its credit, the team had a conviction and made the move up the board. As far as the offensive line is concerned, who is a part of the long-term vision aside from Andrew Thomas and, perhaps, John Michael Schmitz? The group should be better when completely healthy, but the sample size has not been large enough to prove that theory.
Linebacker and cornerback come to mind next.
Schoen has had a flurry of misfires and bad luck in his efforts to improve the line, the biggest being the selection of Alabama tackle Evan Neal with the seventh overall pick in 2022. Neal has been a bust thus far, and the team has decided to try him at guard.
Injuries have befallen All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas even since signing a five-year, $117 million deal before the 2023 season. Thomas has missed 18 games over the past two seasons, sending the Giants’ line into disarray. It is still not known if he’ll be ready for the regular season this fall.
The selection of center John Michael Schmitz has also not worked out as hoped. He has been average at best. The Giants thought he’d be better; a player who would anchor their line for 8-10 years. He hasn’t gotten there yet.
The line has some veteran free agents, such as Jermaine Eluemunor, Jon Runyan Jr., and Greg Van Roten, holding it together for the moment, but they are far from where Schoen had hoped they’d be at this point.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Offensive line named New York Giants’ biggest remaining need
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
