Why Pat Shurmur feels good about the offensive line's depth

The Giants offensive line rebuild took multiple years to complete, but all signs thus far indicate that the group of five starters general manager Dave Gettleman has assembled are going to start yielding a major return on investment in the form of blowing open holes for the running game and keeping quarterback Eli Manning on his feet rather than his back.

How is this known to be true? According to Pro Football Focus, the starting five offensive linemen—left tackle Nate Solder, left guard Will Hernandez, center Jon Halapio, right guard Kevin Zeitler, and right tackle Mike Remmers—has allowed just one quarterback pressure (a hit) in 28 snaps played through two preseason game.

While the starters have answered questions regarding their effectiveness, the focus then shifted to finding backup depth who could step in an perform in the event of an emergency.

The Giants already have one backup locked in for 2019—center/guard Spencer Pulley, who played well enough last year in relief of Halapio when he suffered a season-ending broken leg in Week 2—to earn a new three-year, $8,025 million contract from the team.

Behind Pulley, whom Shurmur considers a starter and the “sixth” member of the offensive line, the questions the team might have had regarding the depth are starting to resolve.

Head coach Pat Shurmur, in his conference call with the media Saturday, mentioned Nick Gates, a guard/tackle; Evan Brown, a guard/center; and Chad Slade, a tackle/guard as three guys who have stood out in their question to make the 53-man roster.

Gates, 6-foot-6, 306 lbs. out of Nebraska, spent all of last year on the team’s injured reserve list last year with a foot injury. In two games, Gates has allowed three pressures (one sack, two hurries), with two of those pressures coming in a forgettable Week 1 showing against the Jets.

Against the Bears, Gates had a better showing, being charged for one sack by Pro Football Focus. Gates again worked at left tackle with the reserves due to the shortage of healthy tackles, and while he battled out there, his best position looks to be at guard where he’s more in a phone booth and not having to move around as much.

Gates’ biggest challenge has been avoiding the penalty flags for holding. Last week he was flagged twice for holding (and one time for a false start) whereas this past week, he didn’t draw any yellow flags.

While Gates has good hustle, his biggest vice right now is consistency in his hand placement during run blocking; specifically, making sure he keeps his hands inside of his man’s framework and avoids giving those jersey tugs that some officiating crews are all too happy to call.

Brown, a college center listed at 6-foot-2, 303 pounds, is entering his second season with the team after making the roster last year as an undrafted free agent out of SMU. Brown didn’t get any regular-season snaps, even as injuries were befalling the interior of the offensive line.

However, the team saw something in him to keep him on the 53-man roster all year long even as injuries were occurring elsewhere on the roster.

Brown spent most of last year learning how to play guard to increase his versatility. Thus far in two preseason games, he still looks like he’s trying to find a comfort level at that position. The biggest thing of note is he doesn’t quite yet have the power or athleticism for the position; when he moves back to center, he is more effective.

Per Pro Football Focus, Brown allowed one pressure while playing left guard in Week 1 of the preseason, where he exclusively lined up at left guard, but turned in a cleaner game playing center where in Week 2 he played 24 out of his 42 game snaps.

Slade is the most intriguing of the trio given his versatility—he gained experience with the Texans playing both tackle spots and right guard, Listed at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, Slade has been lining up at both left and right tackle for the Giants and has been solid in both pass protection (he has allowed just one pressure in 76 preseason snaps) and in run blocking.

Slade’s biggest vice, as noted in the current issue of Inside Football, is a lack of niftiness in his lower body:

As a versatile backup Slade has value, especially inside, but manning an NFL regular season edge is something different. This week he got playing time on both edges and looked as comfortable on either one. He gave up pressures from both sides, but he also displayed consistent technique from both.

Slade needs to keep working on gaining quick positioning and moving those heavy feet of his. He’s not a great athlete, but he’s hanging in there better than most.

Still, Slade, in competition with Chad Wheeler for the backup swing tackle role, appears to have the edge if for no other reason than his ability to play both tackles (Wheeler has struggled in the past when asked to play left tackle).

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