The New York Giants will rely heavily on their two young tackles — Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal — this season as they look to finally buck an ugly offensive line trend.
Neal is already said to be “dominant” in practice, which is a trend we’ve seen develop for Thomas as well. After a rocky rookie season, the 2020 first-round pick came out strong last year and finished things on a high note.
Adam Schein of NFL Network believes that was just the tip of the iceberg for Thomas, who he says is guaranteed to improve in 2022.
The No. 4 overall pick from the 2020 draft began his career looking like a turnstile at a New York City subway station. In a rough rookie season, Thomas gave up 10 sacks and 57 pressures by Pro Football Focus’ count. But he bounced back in 2021, slashing those figures to two sacks and 18 pressures. And I believe he’s poised to take significant strides under this new Giants regime. Brian Daboll is a superb offensive mind who put together a really strong coaching staff. He’ll get the most out of the left tackle.
Will Thomas ever live up to the billing as the first tackle off the board in a draft that also included Tristan Wirfs, who just earned first-team All-Pro honors? Will anyone ever not scoff at him going two picks before Justin Herbert? Probably not. But under the watchful eye of Daboll, he’ll continue to round into form as a solid starter on the blind side. I guarantee it.
It’s important to remember that Thomas was dealing with a painful ankle injury throughout his rookie season — something that also hampered him a bit last year as well. So long as he remains healthy in 2022, there’s no reason to believe we won’t begin to see just how high Thomas’ ceiling is.
