The air of optimism surrounding the Giants’ retooled offensive line lasted for nearly one practice.
The Giants spent $45.2 million on three new starters in free agency and hired a new position coach to rebuild a team that had a record 85 sacks last season, but they are once again scrambling to fill holes after right tackle Jermaine El-Emnoux was injured on the first day of training camp.
“The big thing about our offensive line is we’ve rotated guys the last couple years to compete,” coach Brian Daboll said before El-Emnour’s injury. “We’ve had five guys. [starters] That’s what we want to do: move forward as quickly as possible.”
The Giants made the bold (and shocking) move Wednesday to move Eluemunor from starting left guard to right tackle in place of the injured Evan Neal, making a statement that Neal, a 2022 first-round draft pick who fizzled out after two seasons, must reclaim his position rather than be made draft eligible under waivers whenever he returns from the physically unable to play list.
“He’s got to get healthy, and then his play and his contributions to the team will take care of themselves from there,” general manager Joe Sean said. “He’s not far off.” [from returning to practice].”
About an hour after Sean spoke, practice was stopped and El Emnor took a knee, making Neal’s return even more important.
He was accidentally hit near the ribs by Dexter Lawrence on a running play and lay face-up on the sideline receiving treatment before carefully returning to the locker room with head trainer Ronnie Burns.
El Emnor, who signed a two-year, $14 million contract, was ranked No. 1 among free agent offensive linemen by the Giants’ pro scouting department, Sean revealed on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
El Emnor played for the Raiders under new Giants offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and was a key part of the offseason offensive line revamp, which makes this injury even more significant.
“That was tough. I hope he’s OK,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said. “He knows what makes Calm motivated.” [The Raiders] The attacks were a bit similar… [so] “The words can be translated, and he’s a veteran presence. Physically dominant, a really strong guy, and I think that helps us in the run game.”
The Giants finished practice with Josh Ezuadu at right tackle as Plan C. No update was available on the extent of Eluemunor’s injury.
Ezeudu, who dominated at left tackle when Thomas was sidelined last season, replaced Neal at right tackle during spring training when Eluemnor played left guard, but the Giants opted to move Eluemnor and promote Aaron Stinney to the first-team left guard role rather than stick with Ezeudu.
“Having a healthy team helps everybody,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “I think that’s key.”
It all comes down to Neal getting healthy and quickly recovering from a season in which he allowed 10 sacks and 81 quarterback pressures in 20 career games before suffering an ankle injury. Neal was on track to practice last season after initially suffering a diagnosed sprain before it was discovered he needed surgery to repair a small fracture.
Daboll was open to a competition between Neal and Elmunor at the start of camp. Neal, unlike many of the other injured players, chose to leave the team facility during the offseason to rehab his ankle.
“It’s changing day to day,” Daboll said.[Eluemunor] “He’ll be there. If he plays well and continues to play well, we’ll look at him again when Evan is healthy. He played well as a right tackle in Las Vegas.”
The Giants used a total of 14 offensive linemen last offseason, with nine of them playing at least 266 offensive snaps.
The acquisitions of Ezoudu, Stinney and $30 million right guard Jon Runyan Jr. were supposed to help, but the Giants’ reinforcements, whether it be guard Greg Van Roten (visiting Monday) or another experienced tackle, may not be the end of it.
“It’s a fact of life in this business that players are going to go down,” Thomas said, “We had that last year. Hopefully it’s not as bad as that, but the next guy has to be ready to step up.”
