Could the Giants finally get a full season of competent play from a unit that has been a perennial problem?
The New York Giants have struggled for so long to put together a competent offensive line, and complaining about how awful the line is has become so ingrained into Giants’ fanhood that it is difficult to recognize viable offensive line play when it happens.
Maybe you blinked and missed it last season. Maybe you just didn’t recognize it when you saw it. For a while in 2024, though, the Giants had adequate offensive line play. Then, poof! In the blink of another devastating Andrew Thomas injury, it was gone.
The Giants allowed 14 sacks in the six games in which their starting line was intact, 2.3 per games. After Thomas was lost, they allowed 34 over the final 11 games, 3.09 per game. The Giants ran for 100 or more yards in four of their first six games, then in six of 10 after losing Thomas.
GM Joe Schoen tried to shop at the top end of the free agent market for guard help this offseason, but the price tags for Will Fries (five years, $85 million) and Aaron Banks (four years, $77 million) were prohibitive.
The Giants opted to bring back Van Roten and Stinnie on one-year deals, and to improve on the margins. They added swing tackles James Hudson III and Stone Forsythe, with Hudson likely to be the primary swing tackle. They drafted Marcus Mbow in Round 5. While he has begun as a right tackle, the summer may find him competing with Van Roten and others at guard.
Key losses: Chris Hubbard, Tyre Phillips
Key additions: Marcus Mbow, James Hudson III, Stone Forsythe
Projected starting lineup
Andrew Thomas (LT), Jon Runyan Jr. (LG), John Michael Schmitz (C), Greg Van Roten (RG), Jermaine Eluemunor (RT)
Depth
Marcus Mbow, Evan Neal, James Hudson, Stone Forsythe, Aaron Stinnie, Jake Kubas, Josh Ezeudu, Austin Schlottman, Jimmy Morrissey, Brian Hudson, Jaison Williams
Why the Giants should be better
Andrew Thomas begins the season healthy, and if the star left tackle stays that way the line is automatically better. If he isn’t, the Giants seem better prepared to handle his absence. Neither James Hudson III not Stone Forsythe are great players, but both are actual tackles with experience on both sides. The Giants might even consider the versatile Mbow at right tackle and Eluemunor on the left side if they have to. Point is, they have better options than a guard playing tackle or a journeyman right tackle playing the opposite side.
Left guard Jon Runyan Jr. played last season with a separated shoulder. He will enter the year with two healthy arms.
Center John Michael Schmitz showed improvement from his first to second NFL seasons. That could continue, especially with some stability around him.
The primary concern on the line is right guard. The 35-year-old Van Roten was decent in 2024, but allowed team highs in sacks (7) and pressures (35) last season. The Giants, though, have options at the position. Mbow, Neal, Stinnie, Kubas and even Ezeudu could emerge as replacements if needed.
Thomas’s health and the added depth should make the line better.
Why the Giants could be worse
Now for the pessimistic view.
- What if Thomas, after two injury-riddled years, is no longer the rock he was at left tackle?
- What if Hudson has to play and he isn’t any better than Ezeudu?
- What if none of the right guard options proves to be the answer?
- What is Mbow looks like another offensive line misstep by GM Joe Schoen?
- What if Runyan, coming off a year where he allowed the most pressures (29) despite missing four games and had the lowest pass-blocking efficiency score of his career (96.9%), isn’t better?
- What if Schmitz, in Year 3, remains a bottom tier starting center?
Final thoughts
I do believe the line will be better. That doesn’t mean top-tier, but it means good enough for the offense to function at an acceptable level.
Thomas’s health is, of course, the key. While the Giants did not make any big offseason splashes on the line, they did add veteran depth at tackle, a promising young player in Mbow, and it looks like we will finally find out if Neal can be a useful guard.
The line is improved enough on the margins that I am optimistic about how it will perform in 2025.
