Former No. 7 overall pick has been resistant to the idea
Evan Neal is “open” to the idea of playing guard, New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen told media on Monday at the NFL owner’s meetings.
The 2022 No. 7 overall pick has failed in three NFL seasons to establish himself as a reliable right tackle, the position Schoen drafted him to play.
There was speculation last season that the Giants might move Neal to guard with Jermaine Eluemunor paying well at right tackle. When Neal recovered from offseason ankle surgery, though, he remained at right tackle.
Neal started the final seven games of the season when Eluemunor was forced to move to left tackle due to Andrew Thomas’s injury and the poor play of Josh Ezeudu and Chris Hubbard trying to fill in at that spot.
Schoen did not specifically say that the Giants would move Neal to guard. With Eluemunor back at right tackle and James Hudson III signed as a swing tackle, that seems like a logical conclusion.
Neal being willing to “do whatever he can to help the team” is a clear softening of his previous resistance to playing guard.
Near the end of the 2023 season Neal bristled at the idea of playing guard.
“As soon as I stepped out of the womb, I stepped out an offensive tackle. And that’s how I feel,” Neal said at the time.
Perhaps realizing that the Giants may have closed the door on the possibility of him being a starting tackle, along with the fact that he is entering the final year of his rookie contract, has helped Neal see the value in a potential switch to guard.
