Brian Daboll Unwilling to Commit on Giants' Left Tackle Spot

Third-year man Joshua Ezeudu struggled in his first starting assignment this year at left tackle, raising questions about what the team will do moving forward.

Jul 25, 2024; East Rutherford, NY, USA; New York Giants offensive tackle Joshua Ezeudu (75) participates in a drill during training camp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll didn’t hesitate in naming quarterback Daniel Jones the starter for next week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers despite having pulled him early in the fourth quarter of the team’s 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The same, however, can’t be said of offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu, who got the start at left tackle for Andrew Thomas, the team’s best offensive lineman who is finished for the season after suffering a lis franc injury requiring season-ending surgery.

“Yeah, we'll have that discussion here,” Daboll said Monday on a video call with reporters. “We've watched the tape. We're not there yet.”

Ezeudu, now in his third season, spent the offseason and summer getting reps at both guard and tackle in case he was needed to start. He battled his hardest against the Eagles, but unfortunately, he was often overmatched to the point where if he wasn’t being pushed back into the quarterback’s lap, he was being beaten cleanly around the edge in space.  

Ezeudu, who has also struggled with his balance, had a rough start to his game, allowing two sacks in the first half. 

Per Pro Football Focus, he finished with three pressures, tied with guard Greg Van Roten for third-most of the five-man offensive line. And although he played better in the second half, the Eagles defense took its foot off the gas given its comfortable lead.

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“I thought that early on, there were a couple of plays in there, one off of a jam and another one that could have been better,” Daboll said. “ I think he settled in. It was his first time playing. So, there's some things he did better as the game went on and made some improvements.”

Daboll said there was never any thought to putting Evan Neal, who has yet to take a snap this season as he tries to get caught up on the new technique work offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo desires. 

While there is no replacing a player of Thomas’s ability, the Giants did bring veteran Chris Hubbard over from the 49ers practice squad to serve as their swing tackle. Hubbard was inactive for Sunday’s game since he only arrived in East Rutherford in time for Friday’s practice, but the expectation is he will be active for next week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Whether he gets the start ahead of Ezeudu remains to be seen.

As he often does, Daboll refused to blame one player for the pass protection and tried to find positive things to say about how the group played.  

“I'd say the communication process was good. They (the Philadelphia Eagles) didn't do a whole lot defensively,” he said. 

“But the techniques and things like that, it wasn't just one person or two people. It was kind of spread out, and everybody had their hand in it. There were some good things. At the end of the day, our job is to score points. We've got to work to continue to do that.”

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