The 2024 New York Giants have been together in some sort of team capacity since April 15th and most recently for 22 days this summer.
And during that time period, their projected starting offensive line of left tackle Andrew Thomas, left guard Jermaine Eluemunor, center John Michael Schmitz, right guard Jon Runyan, Jr. and right tackle Evan Neal have played exactly zero snaps together in any capacity due to injuries.
Injuries played such a large role that Neal, who began training camp as a PUP, appears to have lost his starting spot to Eluemunor, who moved to the right tackle position from day one. Runyan has moved to the left guard position and newcomer Greg Van Roten has been signed to play right guard.
But even this version of the offensive line that coaches likely plan to use at the start of the regular season has not yet completed a single snap together in practice.
That can’t be very reassuring for head coach Brian Daboll and offensive line coach Caermen Bricillo. Bricillo told reporters in the spring that he hoped to have the starting lineup in place by the middle of training camp, but that hasn’t happened either due to injuries.
And for the Giants, who seem to struggle every year to field a healthy and solid offensive line, time is running out.
“You’d like to have all the guys on the field, but the reality is they’re not,” head coach Brian Daboll said Tuesday.
“At most places I’ve been at this time of year, it’s been a constant back and forth to keep going and evaluate the results. I would have loved it if it had just been the five guys there.”
Daboll seems to see the glass half full when it comes to the constant changes on the offensive line, pointing out that different players are getting valuable exposure, which can help them compete for a spot on the roster.
But as optimistic as Daboll would like people to believe, experience has probably proven him wrong, especially after last season’s debacle. Last year, the team was still shuffling players around to find the right starting combination, and then injuries struck.
Bricillo said he was pleased with the way his offensive line players were working, noting that they were well prepared and had begun to play together.
“There’s still a lot of room for improvement,” he said, adding, “That’s why this week (against Houston) could be critical in terms of improvement – the opportunity to actually go out and play against someone other than your own team.”
“So you can start to analyze some deficiencies and things that we might need to improve technically or in terms of communication, things that might cause us problems. But overall I like the way they work and it’s fun to be with them.”
If Bricillo had his choice, his eight offensive linemen would be nearly set by now. But while the organization’s eyes are on how many training camp days are left on the calendar, Bricillo said there is one thing that can give him comfort regarding the offensive line, and that is the previous working relationship Van Roten had with Eluemunor last year when both were with the Raiders.
“I would feel pretty confident that Greg’s relationship with Jermaine can be a help and also that Greg is just a veteran and can step in and figure things out,” Bricillo said.
The Giants need to get their offensive line solid and playing together for Week 1 of the regular season, or all the additions they’ve made on offense will be for naught. While the projected starting group is made up of veterans, the hope is that they’ll get some practice snaps together at some point before the curtain goes up on the 2024 season.
