Instant Reaction | Giants Get a Key Piece for Offensive Line in Andrew Thomas

Hear what Giants Country writers Nick Falato and Pat Ragazzo had to say about the Andrew Thomas selection.

It was a bit of a surprise, but overall, the Giants' selection of Andrew Thomas was well received by Giants Country writers Pat Ragazzo and Nick Falato.

And why not? The Giants offensive line has been in a constant state of rebuild ever since 2011, with general manager Dave Gettleman vowing when he first was hired to fix it.

“We spent a lot of time on this, and we want to fix this offensive line once and for all,” Gettleman said. “Andrew certainly has a hell of a pedigree, a three-year starter in the Southeastern Conference. “He’s played against some real quality defensive ends during his college career. He’s played big-time ball in front of a lot of people.”

“His skill set favors his opportunity to come in and contribute,” first-year coach Joe Judge added. “He’s long, he’s a good athlete, he has good short-area redirect. One thing that sticks about him is when you watch the top pass rushers with the exception of maybe a couple in this draft, they have to go against him. 

"You watch his college tape, and he is going against all the guys that you are going to see drafted in the next couple of days. He does a heck of a job on them, you see him compete, you see him play big in big games, and that’s important. He was coached very hard at the University of Georgia, and that’s a trait we look for. Guys who can play hard and play on big stages and compete.” 

Thomas is the sixth offensive lineman from Georgia to be selected in the first round in the common draft era. He is also the third Bulldog offensive lineman selected in the first round since 2000 and the first since Isaiah Wynn in 2018.

Check out Pat's and Nick's reaction about the selection of Thomas, along with their thoughts on where Thomas fits in if the Giants might look to trade on Day 2 and how the Thomas pick sets up Day 2 of the Giants' draft in the video above.