New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: C Jimmy Morrissey

Is there a spot on the New York Giants for Jimmy Morrissey in 2024?

Aug 10, 2023; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Texans center Jimmy Morrissey (79) lines up against the New England Patriots during the second half at Gillette Stadium. / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants put an added emphasis on adding offensive linemen this offseason through free agency. Jimmy Morrissey was brought in to provide a veteran presence for the interior of the offensive line and to add some competition to the room.

Like most of the offensive linemen the Giants brought in this offseason, Morrissey provides positional versatility with experience playing multiple spots on the offensive line. 

In college, he played primarily center and slid over to right guard for a few games when help was needed there. Throughout his NFL career, he’s played primarily center but, in the past two years, almost exclusively at left guard.

On special teams, Morrissey has been on the field goal unit before, but with the new kickoff rules, we will likely see offensive linemen more involved than we’ve seen before.

Throughout his career to this point, Morrissey has played 318 offensive snaps, with 179 of them in pass protection and 139 as a run blocker. As a pass protector, he earned grades of 73.8 in 2023, 67.4 in 2022, and 20.0 in 2021. As a run blocker, his grades were 60.0 in 2023, 50.5 in 2022, and 56.8 in 2021.

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Jimmy Morrissey, C

Height: 6-4
Weight: 305
EXP: 3 Years
School: Pittsburgh
How Acquired: FA-24

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2023 in Review

Morrissey spent most of the 2023 season on the Houston Texans practice squad after being part of their final roster cutdowns. The only game that Morrissey was activated for and played in was week four against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played left guard.

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Contract/Cap Info

Morrissey has a one-year contract worth $985,000 total, but his contract does not include guaranteed money. Therefore, the Giants can release Morrissey without incurring a dead cap penalty.

The Giants have three centers on their roster right now, and Morrissey is the only center with no guaranteed money on his contract. That’s not an indicator of whether or not he’s considered safe on the roster, as he’ll be competing with Austin Schlottmann, who would only incur a penalty of $250,000 if he were cut. That’s not a significant enough cap penalty to be a deciding factor come roster cutdown days.

2024 Preview

Offensively, Morrissey may find himself in an uncomfortable spot as he’s been more of a zone-based offensive lineman. As I’ve said throughout the offseason, I think the Giants will shift to a more gap-based offensive scheme with the addition of Carmen Bricillo and most of the offensive linemen brought in.

His athleticism allows him to get to his mark on time, but he needs to gain the power to be a consistent mover in the run game. It’s not exactly surprising that he’s relatively ineffective in the run game at 304 pounds, with his just 30th percentile for an interior offensive lineman. 

If the Giants make the move to be more gap-based, then I would view Morrissey as a long shot to make the roster. He would still likely be a candidate to keep on the practice squad as an emergency option if he doesn’t make the final roster.

While it’s not ideal to have a lineman on the practice squad or active roster who isn’t a perfect scheme fit or a quality player, Morrissey’s positional versatility and potential to contribute on special teams might be considered worth the practice squad stash.

The new rules will make it so that kick returns are similar to running plays. Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial has said that kick returns have “taken the speed and space out of it, and there is less space.” With less space between the kickoff team and kick return team, an athletic lineman like Morrissey could be useful.

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