Giants’ OL more consistent but still not quite where they need to be

As we enter Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season, the New York Giants are still dealing with substandard play along the offensive line.

Pro Football Focus is ranking unit coach Carmen Bricillo’s group 29th out of 32 teams even after all of the changes they’ve made this past offseason.

All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas is out for the season after having foot surgery several weeks ago and former first-round pick Evan Neal has played just two offensive snaps this season.

Neal was supplanted by free agent Jermaine Eluemunor in training camp while on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list and never regained his starting right tackle spot.

This week, the Giants are scheduled to start just one player who started at this time last year — center John Michael Schmitz. Eluemunor will be at right tackle again with recently signed free agent Chris Hubbard on the left side.

Veteran free agent pickups Jon Runyan Jr. and Greg Van Roten will be at the guard positions as they have been all season.

Schmitz, Van Roten, Runyan, and Elumunor have played all 614 offensive snaps this season, so it appears there is some continuity there, but PFF does not see the quality — or the results.

In Week 9, the unit allowed just six pressures on 29 dropbacks against the Commanders. As a result, they earned an 87.9 PFF pass-blocking efficiency rating, which ranked 13th in the NFL.

Schmitz allowed pressure on 6.6% of pass plays as a rookie but has done so on just 4.9% of pass plays this season. Van Roten was the only Giants offensive lineman to earn a 60.0-plus PFF overall grade in Week 9 (67.0).

With the team dead last in points per game (15.4) and red zone offense (40.0 percent), the line will be under constant scrutiny but there are some areas where there has been marked improvement.

The Giants are still allowing 3.1 sacks per game (7th overall) but it is way down from last year when they allowed 5.0 sacks per game — a full sack per game more than the next-highest team.

The rushing game is actually performing slightly better at 114 yards per game. Last year, with Saquon Barkley in the lineup, they averaged just over 110 yards per.

Three years into the Joe Schoen-Brian Daboll era, the line is still in flux but things appear to be looking up as they continue to tweak to find the right combination.