James Hudson could be an important player for New York
The best thing that could happen to the New York Giants’ offensive line in 2025 would be for left tackle Andrew Thomas to remain healthy for an entire season, which has not happened since he was a second-team All-Pro in 2022.
Giants’ fans know the history all too well.
In 2023, Thomas suffered a hamstring injury chasing after a blocked field goal at the end of the season’s first drive. He missed seven games, then played much of the rest of the season with a knee injury that limited his effectiveness.
In 2024, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Thomas suffered the dreaded Lisfranc injury, had surgery and missed the rest of the season.
In neither of those seasons did the Giants have a workable backup plan.
In 2023, they kept 2023 third-round pick Matt Peart as the designated swing tackle, but when they needed a replacement for Thomas refused to use him. Instead, they plugged in Josh Ezeudu, a guard who had failed to win a starting job.
That was a disaster. Ezeudu wasn’t up to the task, and that contributed to the Giants’ offensive line falling apart. Quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a neck injury, then a season-ending knee injury while getting pounded game after game. Giants’ quarterbacks ended up getting sacked a ridiculous league-leading 85 times.
The Giants didn’t end up with a better plan in 2024. Originally, New York intended to use Evan Neal at right tackle, Jermaine Eluemunor at right guard and have Eluemunor function as the swing tackle.
When it became clear Neal wouldn’t be ready for the season, they moved Eluemunor to right tackle. They did not, though, pivot and find another swing tackle. That job fell to Ezeudu again.
Thomas, of course, suffered his Week 6 injury and Ezeudu was forced back into the lineup. The Ezeudu at left tackle plan again proved inadequate.
After one disastrous start in Week 7 when he quickly surrendered two sacks, the Giants replaced him with journeyman free agent Chris Hubbard, by trade a right tackle. That didn’t work, either, and Eluemunor was forced to move to that spot.
The Giants appear to have finally relented on their insistence that Ezeudu could be an NFL tackle. This offseason, they signed a pair of veteran swing tackles in James Hudson and Stone Forsythe.
“You always have to prepare for the eventualities,” offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo said during mandatory minicamp. “It’s football.”
It was clear during spring practices that the Giants are counting on Hudson to step in if injuries once again befall Thomas. Hudson took almost all of the first-team left tackle reps in the spring as Thomas continued his off the field rehab program.
The 26-year-old Hudson was a fourth-round pick by the Cleveland Browns in 2021. He has played in 49 regular-season games with 17 starts. Hudson has significant experience at both tackle spots. In 2024, he was almost exclusively at left tackle, playing 207 snaps there and just 15 on the right side.
When I asked Jared Mueller of SB Nation’s Dawgs By Nature, which covers the Browns, about Hudson he used the word “inconsistent.” Which is probably why Hudson has never been a full-time starter.
Pre-draft scouting reports indicated a raw player with tremendous physical upside but limited experience. Here is a snippet from Ourlads:
He is still incredibly raw and inexperienced, but there is absolutely no denying his physical talent and upside. He has a lot to learn and clean up but there is a level of explosion, twitch, and power here that very few can match. It may take a year-plus, but he could be a starting tackle or guard for a long time, and a very good one.
Hudson has yet to reach that starting status. He could, though, be an important player for the Giants in 2025. The Giants drafted offensive lineman Marcus Mbow in Round 5. While they believe he has five-position versatility, Mbow played only a handful of left tackle snaps in the spring and it seems like putting him at that critical spot as a rookie would be a last resort.
“He’s a guy that when we targeted tackles in free agency, obviously there’s a reason that he’s here,” Bricillo said. “We like him. He brings some traits that we really like. He has a level of toughness. He has a high character as far as a standard for himself and he works.”
Fingers crossed that Thomas stays healthy and the Giants don’t need Hudson to play for an extended length of time. If he does have to play, though, we will see if the Giants have made the right bet that he can handle a critical job.
