Jon Feliciano has spent the vast majority of his professional career taking snaps at guard. That comes on the heels of taking most of his college snaps at tackle.
But in 2022 with the New York Giants, Feliciano won’t see time at either position. Rather, he’ll be converted to center — something he’s been clamoring for dating back to his days with the Oakland Raiders.
“Going back to my Oakland days, I had a guy, Rodney Hudson, who’s a top-tier, one-two center the last 10 years. I got to pick his brain and learn from him, and Mike Tice and Tim Holt,” Feliciano told reporters on Wednesday. “I took those four years of being a rotational guy, a back-up guy, to learn a position that I didn’t play in college.
“In college I played tackle, I played both tackles and then left guard. So, from those first four years, I got to learn center and I really fell in love with it. Just the responsibility that is on your hands to come in every week and everything is basically on you. You’ve got to know the defense. You’ve got to make all of the calls for the guys around you. I take a lot of pride in knowing that stuff.
“I’ve been in a lot of people’s ears for a lot of years trying to get into the center position. I honestly think it’s my best position, and I’m just really excited to finally get to show what I’ve got.”
The Giants were certainly in need of a center entering the offseason. Nick Gates suffered a horrific leg injury a season ago and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to play in 2022, so Feliciano made sense. He’s got obvious familiarity with head coach Brian Daboll and understands his offense, plus he’s got past experience with offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.
“It started when I was a rotational guy and Bobby did the goal-line plays, so every week he would draw up the goal line plays and he started looking out for me and putting me in as a fullback, or tight end, basically just looking out for me and putting me in anywhere he could. Even went out in motion and ran a couple of routes. It’s every fat man’s dream,” Feliciano said with a laugh. “But our relationship started from there.”
With the Giants, Feliciano will be in control of the communication and blocking assignments. It’s a tall order but one he’s taking seriously, especially given his thoughts on quarterback Daniel Jones.
“when I went to Buffalo the first time, they were struggling up front — the offensive line was,” he said. “Our 2019 free agent o-line group, we understood going in that this team had potential if we had the quarterback upright. I believe the same thing watching Danny Dimes play. I believe he’s going to be a really good quarterback, especially if he has some time.”
Time has been a persistent issue for Jones and something the Giants knew they had to correct entering the offseason. Feliciano is just one piece, but he’s an important piece who will play a major role in determining Jones’ long-term fate in East Rutherford.
