Giants O-Line Rising in PFF's Rankings

The Giants' offensive line has played admirably through the season's first four weeks.

Sep 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) throws against the Dallas defense during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The New York Giants are off to a 1-3 start, and while they haven't provided much to make their fan base smile, the offensive line, a long-time problem for this team, has been the least of the team’s woes through four games this season.

With the Giants having restocked their line with mostly veterans like guards Jon Runyan Jr and Greg Van Roten, and tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, the Giants offensive line is much improved than in recent years.  

The starting five of Andrew Thomas, Runyan, John Michael Schmitz, Van Roten, and Eluemunor have done far better in pass protection versus last year’s historically bad season, in which the unit allowed 85 sacks. 

Under new offensive line coaches Carmen Bricillo and James Ferentz, the unit has been steadily climbing the pass-blocking efficiency rankings each week. It is currently the 22nd best offensive line unit at the quarter pole of the season.

While their pass blocking has been above average, run blocking has been different. The Giants have one of the worst rushing attacks in the league, averaging less than 90 yards per game. 

Their Week 4 matchup was supposed to be a bounce-back performance in terms of running the ball against a Cowboys run defense that was the worst in the NFL. However, the Giants couldn't get anything going on the ground. Giants ball carriers averaged 1.1 yards per rush against the Cowboys and mustered 26 total yards.

Getting back to pass blocking, the Giants offensive line has allowed quarterback Daniel Jones an average of 2.8 seconds to throw, tied for 13th in the league with Dak Prescott of the Cowboys and Jared Goff of the Rams. 

The Giants’ offensive line has also done a nice job of keeping Jones upright, with Thomas, the blindside protector, leading the way despite PFF’s negative assessment of his 2024 season so far.  

"Thomas is having a somewhat disappointing season so far, as he ranks just 21st among offensive tackles in PFF overall grade (72.1) while allowing pressure on 5.9% of pass plays — his worst rate since his rookie season."

Thomas has only been credited with allowing one sack, so if that's considered disappointing, the Giants will take it. Overall, this unit is performing above expectations and will continue to climb the rankings if they keep their play up. There's room for improvement, but the Giants have to feel good about the trajectory of their offensive line.

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