Joe Schoen Makes Honest Admission Regarding Giants' O-line Play

The Giants are hoping better days are ahead for their offensive line.

There are times when the New York Giants brass don't necessarily agree with the opinions of the media and/or the fans.

But when it comes to the team's offensive line's play last season, everyone seems to agree that the unit was bad.

"It was almost embarrassing the way we played on the offensive line," Giants general manager Joe Schoen told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "You can’t run a play. You really can’t get a true feel for (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) when he’s on his back every play." 

The Giants' offensive line, which admittedly had a rash of injuries that necessitated a different lineup almost every week, was charged with 85 sacks last season. 

While not all of those sacks were on the offensive line—some were a result of missed blocks by running backs and tight ends or thanks to quarterbacks holding the ball too long—the line's overall play, combined with the lack of development in some of its younger players, was concerning enough that head coach Brian Daboll made a change on his coaching staff, replacing Bobby Johnson with Carmen Bricillo.

The Giants have taken a different approach with their offensive line this year. They have brought in several veteran free agents with relatively clean injury histories who have been more than functional in whatever role was asked of them. 

From left to right, the projected starting offensive line is Andrew Thomas, Jon Runyan Jr., John Michael Schmitz, Jermaine Eluemunor, and Evan Neal.

In addition to getting that unit solidified and functioning as one, Bricillo will be tasked with developing younger depth such as Marcus McKethan and Joshua Ezeudu.

He has his work cut out for him. On the projected starting line, Schmitz had some inconsistencies in his play last season, and Neal, in what was an injury-filled year, didn't look at all like a top-10 draft pick just two years removed from that prestigious selection. 

But the good news is Bricillo has a strong resume, having optimized the talent he had on a Raiders offensive line that in 2021, the year before he took over as the Raiders o-line coach, ranked 24th in pass-blocking efficiency only to jump into a tie for sixth place last season.

Fixing the offensive line has been a priority for the Giants now for nearly a decade, but the efforts have come up short. Hopefully, this year will break what has otherwise been a long line of failed attempts at solidifying the most important unit on the team.

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