New York Giants Mailbag: Navigating the O-Line Hierarchy, Joe Schoen, and Roster Questions

Welcome to the weekly New York Giants On SI mailbag! From offseason moves to game-day strategies, we'll do our best to answer your questions. (Questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.

The Giants seem to be going to a bigger offensive line this year to be more of a run first team. JMS does not seem to fit that profile. What do you think the options are for the Giants if they want to go a different direction than him as a starter this year?
— Kris Kauffeld (@dublk52) May 21, 2026

Kris, I think Lucas Patrick is the main competition for Schmitz. That said, I don't think Schmitz is the biggest problem the Giants have on the offensive line. I still think an upgrade at guard is a higher priority.

Interestingly enough, this offense had the center pulling quite a bit during the OTA practice we saw, so I suspect that at some point the Giants will not only look to get bigger at the position but also more athletic.

But again, I do think they can get by with JMS this year if that’s what it comes down to.

Can dry philip’s love to safety? He can’t cover great but he can hit
— Greg Reeves (@wordreeves) May 22, 2026

I suppose he could move to safety, but before we go down that path, why not see if the change in coaching gets Phillips back on track?

Phillips, at the end of last season, was very candid in a conversation with me about how he did not play up to his personal expectations, and I think he's the type of young man who is going to do something about that.

He showed flashes as a rookie before regressing last year. In fact, several defensive players regressed. So this year will be a big one for a lot of them to show that they’re not busts.

What do you think would have to happen for Joe Schoen to be fired next year, fresh off the extension?

It’s easy to say the record, but would it have to be a situation where the young guys perform poorly as well?
— Rational Giants Takes (@RationalGMENFan) May 22, 2026

I think it would have to be a gross act that violates the NFL's personal conduct policy by Schoen to warrant a firing or a power struggle with John Harbaugh, and I can't see either happening.

Remember: the young guys who were brought in were approved by Harbaugh. It is now up to the coaches to make a go of this with the talent. And I think so long as Schoen stays in his lane, he'll be around for a while.

If the Giants lose 12 to 14 games

will they select a QB in the 2027 NFL Draft
— gg45 (@gg45398507) May 21, 2026

No. I mean unless Jaxson Dart badly regresses because of his own doing--and I see no reason to believe that will be the case--why make that move? If the Giants are that bad--and I don't think they will be--talk to me about the reasons behind it.

Was it the coaching? A wave of injuries? What was the primary reason for the team's failure to meet expectations? If it's Dart who regresses, why was that?

And do you give up on him after one year? Daniel Jones got what, over five years? So no, I don't think the Giants would be that quick to give up on Jaxson Dart if the season falls apart.

#askPTrain are there any players with questions of potential personality conflicts with the incoming coaching staff that you think can become a story we will hate to see?
— Elite Eli (@EliManburner) May 20, 2026

I think it's too soon to tell for sure. Right now we're still in the honeymoon stage. But let's see what happens once they hit some adversity.

With the news that Nabers might be out for a while, should the Giants sign someone like Stefon Diggs to a 1 year deal? #askPTrain
— MikeA (@MTerminal89) May 22, 2026

I don't think they will sign Diggs. I have not heard of the Giants even being linked to him. What I think is going to happen is the Giants will wait until about midway through training camp to see where Malik Nabers is in his rehab and whether the receivers they have on the roster can get them through the first half of the season.

One thing they all have in their favor is that once you get past the first two weeks of the season, the schedule is soft, so if nothing else, you hope to have Nabers back for after the bye, when the schedule becomes more challenging.

Why is Malachi Fields shown in photos wearing Brian Burns number "0".
Did Burns change his number again? -- John M.

May 9, 2026; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Malachi Fields (0) participates in a drill during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

No, the Giants sometimes have to have players share jersey numbers, as I believe they have more than 17 jersey numbers officially retired. Doing the math, if you have a 90-man roster, you are left with 73 jersey numbers available.

Fields will wear a different number once the season starts. For now, it's not a big deal that he happens to be sharing the same numbers as the Giants' best defensive player last year.

Fields, by the way, wore No. 0 at Notre Dame. So why no let him have the nubmer for the spring and summer? No harm done and as far as I know, Burns doesn't seem to mind.

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