Giants Country

How Much Did Giants' O-line Improve from 2023?

According to new metrics, the New York Giants offensive line took a big step forward by the season's end.

Patricia Traina

Offensive Line Coach Carmen Bricillo, of the NY Giants NFL team at an organized team activity at their training facility in East Rutherford, NJ on Thursday May 30, 2024.
Offensive Line Coach Carmen Bricillo, of the NY Giants NFL team at an organized team activity at their training facility in East Rutherford, NJ on Thursday May 30, 2024. / Tariq Zehawi/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

A year after being “credited” with 85 sacks, the second most sacks allowed by a team since the NFL began tracking the statistic, the 2024 New York Giants offensive line appears to be on the upswing.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Giants’ 2024 o-line, which, like the 2023 version, went through ten different starting combinations thanks to injuries, finished 23rd in the final rankings. 

That’s a jump of seven slots from where the unit finished in PFF’s 2023 final ranking. 

Zoltan Buday, who ranked the 32 NFL offensive evaluations, said the Giants’ best lineup this year was left tackle Andrew Thomas, left guard Jon Runyan, Jr., center John Michael Schmitz, right guard Greg Van Roten, and right tackle Evan Neal, a combination that ironically never got a chance to play together.

A closer look at the PFF data shows that this line combination was better at pass blocking than run blocking. 

PFF has them down for allowing 21 sacks and 125 total pressures. Schmitz finished with the best pass-blocking efficiency percentage (97.1), and Thomas finished with the lowest (95.9).

New York Giants OL Jermaine Eluemunor
Jan 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants OL Jermaine Eluemunor (72) in the tunnel against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Surprisingly, though, Jermaine Eluemunor, who began the season at right tackle before ending it at left tackle, was not included in the five-man “best” combination.

Elumunor, per PFF, allowed 29 total pressures, tying him with Runyan for the second-lowest among the five listed players making up the best combination. Eluemunor was also charged with allowing four sacks, the same as Thomas. 

From a run-blocking perspective, the group's star was Neal, whose PFF run-blocking grade was 80.8, the highest of the 11 offensive linemen the Giants put on the field this season. Runyan’s run-blocking grade (52.3) was ranked out of the Giants’ 11 offensive linemen.  

Overall, though, Carmen Bricillo and James Ferentz, in their first season tasked with overseeing the Giants' offensive line’s improvement, did an admirable job despite the challenges of having to prepare different starting lines for the last 11 games of the season because of injuries. 

That’s not bad, considering the Giants didn’t add any offensive linemen in the 2024 draft, something they’ll probably change this year as they look to build up the unit’s depth. 

More Giants Coverage

New York Giants On SI Social Media

Published
Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

Home/Big Blue+