New York Giants: Post-draft offensive line breakdown

The New York Giants have plenty of holes to fill on their roster. Their offensive line was one of the worst performing units in the NFL last season. That has been addressed in this offseason. Here is a breakdown of how the team improved their offensive line via the draft, free agency and trades.

The New York Giants offensive line has been awful and it’s been that way for quite some time now. Big Blue’s first play of last season was offensive holding. This team has been unable to protect Eli Manning for years. There were some bright spots like rookie starting left guard Will Hernandez who can look to build on a strong first year and avoid costly mistakes.

Four out of the five positions seems to already be filled with right tackle being the only question mark.  As of now, the Giants appear committed to starting left tackle Nate Solder, left guard Will Hernandez, center Jon Halapio, and newly acquired right guard Kevin Zeitler. The G-Men are not as committed to Chad Wheeler as their starting right tackle as of now.

That is hoping Halapio comes back healthy after suffering a leg injury during the team’s second game of the season against the Cowboys. Big Blue will likely look to add a backup center at some point. The Giants were so confident that Halapio was their future starting center last season, they traded Brett Jones. With the draft pick acquired in return, they picked up Kentucky tackle George Asafo-Adjei in the seventh round.

The Giants’ big free agent acquisition Nate Solder struggled mightily at the beginning of the season.  It took a while, but during the team’s week 10 game against the 49ers, he recorded the highest single-game grade by an offensive lineman last season. He finished the season ranked 16th out of 35 left tackles, so there is definitely room for improvement.