Andrew Thomas, Giants' offensive line need a quick fix as season nears

It was the Giants’ dirty little secret coming into training camp, an issue that rarely entered the conversation about whether Daniel Jones could become a big-time quarterback and some day lead this team to a championship.

Now it’s not much of a secret.

After watching the Giants’ offensive line flail through much of its first-team work against the Patriots in Sunday night’s preseason finale, it’s quite clear that an area of consistent concern last year will once again factor into an offense that needs to raise its production in a meaningful way this season.

The line was miserable, starting with a player the Giants absolutely need to play at an elite level. Left tackle Andrew Thomas, the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft, looked more like former first-round flop Ereck Flowers against the Patriots’ pass rush. He gave up two sacks, was called for a holding penalty and raised alarm bells for an offensive line that let Jones down far too often last year and can’t afford to do the same moving forward.

"I started off a little slow," Thomas said after the game. "There are some things I’ve got to improve on — my hand placement, staying wide on my set and keeping the depth with the pocket."

Coach Joe Judge said he would reserve judgment on Thomas until watching the tape. But on Monday, after he had studied the film, he didn’t single out Thomas for criticism. Even though there was ample evidence to do just that.

"There’s a lot of things that factor in together," Judge said when asked again about Thomas. "It’s never one person. It’s a lot of things tied together. It’s all 11 [players on offense] working."

Judge said he thought there were "a lot of encouraging things to build on" with the line.

But let’s face it. This isn’t the Seven Blocks of Granite we’re talking about here. And if the line doesn’t show measurable improvement this season, then Jones will struggle to get time to find his receivers and opposing defenses will be aggressive in applying pressure against a line that may not have the answers.

The Giants were hoping Thomas could be their Anthony Munoz or Jonathan Ogden, Hall of Fame left tackles who were mostly impenetrable with their pass blocking. But if he can’t develop into a consistent protector for Jones, then it’s one more strike against general manager Dave Gettleman. It was Gettleman who talked about rebuilding the offensive line when he first took the job in 2018, affectionately referring to the big fellas up front as "hog mollies."

He has assembled a mostly young line with Thomas, Nick Gates, Matt Peart, Will Hernandez and Shane Lemieux, with veteran Nate Solder as a swing tackle. But if the talent is not there, then no amount of coaching from Judge and his staff can change the fact that Jones will be working behind a substandard group of blockers. Surely the Giants realize there’s a problem, otherwise they wouldn’t have traded defensive lineman B.J. Hill on Monday for Bengals offensive lineman Billy Price, a first-round pick in 2018.

But Thomas is the bigger issue, and without substantial improvement, this will be a troublesome situation for the foreseeable future. And a source of draft-day second-guessing. Consider: Mekhi Becton of the Jets and Tristan Wirfs of the Bucs, both of whom were taken after Thomas, are already better than the former Georgia tackle.

"I think I made improvements, but there are a lot of things that I still need to work on," Thomas said. "I’m trying to fix those things in camp, just hand placement and just being very consistent in my set. Sometimes I do it the right way, sometimes it might not be to my liking. I’m just trying to be as consistent as possible."

It has to be better than this. And if it’s not, then it’s not a fair fight for Jones, who has enough problems avoiding mistakes and turnovers — there was an end zone interception Sunday night and another pass that was nearly picked off near midfield.

Yes, the secret is out. And unless things get better in a hurry, then what we saw Sunday night is a troublesome sign of what comes next.

By Bob Glauber

Special to NewsdayBobGlauber

Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”