IOL Marcus McKethan: The Good, the Great, and the Ugly

With Marcus McKethan now the new starting right guard, Coach Gene Clemons takes a look at his film.

Author:
Gene Clemons
Publish date:
Sep 29, 2023 1:12 PM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants offensive guard Marcus McKethan has started the last two games at right guard after a subpar game one performance by Mark Glowinski. After a first season mostly spent on injured reserve, McKethan worked his way up the depth chart throughout training camp and preseason.

Over the past two games, McKethan has taken 100 percent of the snaps at right guard and has performed well. The North Carolina talent is coming into his own, and obviously, the organization would love for him to cement himself as the permanent starter.

He still needs to clean up some things in his game, but there are reasons to be encouraged for Giants fans. Here is the good, the great, and the ugly from his performance against the 49ers.

The Good: Pass Protection Punch

One of the best ways to neutralize a pass rush is to stop it before it starts. How do offensive linemen do it? They usually start with a strong initial punch.

McKethan has 35.5-inch arms and 10.5-inch hands, both longer than your average NFL player. When he shoots them out at defenders, they are like pistons capable of stopping advancers in their tracks.

His pass blocking is still unrefined, but when he gets a good punch on a defender, that is normally the end of an effective pass rush for the play. He often only needs to extend one arm to jolt the defenders' efforts, and that is a great place to start when blockers protect you on either side of you.

Dec 18, 2022; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden (41) on the field against the Washington Commanders during the second half at FedExField.

The Great: Run Blocking

When you come from a program that leaned into the run game because they had you out there, that should probably translate to the NFL immediately. There is no surprise that is the case for McKethan. He has all the tools as a run blocker to be a high-level road grader in the league.

He has just enough athleticism that it allows him to pull and climb to the second level. He also has the power and explosion to cause major impacts when he strikes defenders.

He can be devastating on a double team and is also smart enough to understand when to break from a double to pick up a dangerous defender. Trap blocks to kick out blocks are difficult for defenders to "wrong arm," and defensive backs have no chance 1-on-1 in the secondary.

In the 49ers game, there were not a lot of recorded runs, but there were some RPOs where he was opening really good lanes to run through, and Daniel Jones just decided to pull it and throw. Expect those to be handoffs next time.

The Ugly: Inconsistent Balance in Pass Pro

Although McKethan has a punch that can jolt a defender and get them off rhythm, if the punch is ineffective, he is inconsistent with his weight in pass protection. The result is that defenders can get him off balance during pass pro in many ways.

He is sometimes top-heavy and finds himself leaning "over trying" to block. That is when defenders take advantage of using his momentum against him.

Push pulls and swim moves were the go-to moves for 49ers defensive linemen in the pass rush. They would either pull themselves by him or do a swim move around him. When he sits too far back in his stance, he can get put back on his heels and allow rushers to get on his edge and go by him.

Final Thoughts

The time is now for many of the younger players on this team to step up and show what they can bring to this team long-term. McKethan has the opportunity to do just that.

Glowinski’s performance opened the door, and Joshiia Ezeudu’s move to tackle with the injury to Andrew Thomas cleared the way. Now, consistency will be the key to McKethan making the job his for the long haul.