The New York Giants’ roster has improved from where it was two years ago when general manager Joe Schoen took over.
In his first offseason as GM, the Giants were in salary cap hell and extremely limited in the moves they could make. Things cleared up a bit last year but there still wasn’t a massive spending spree.
Although some positions have seen a boost, the Giants remain needy — especially on the offensive side of the ball.
That’s something Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report recognized this week as he ranked every team’s offensive building blocks. The Giants checked in near the bottom under the “jury’s very much out” category.
22. New York Giants: The Giants are loaded with young offensive players who have failed to show significant signs of becoming major contributors. The list? It starts with practically the entire offensive line beyond 25-year-old Andrew Thomas (namely John Michael Schmitz and Evan Neal, who are 24 and 24, respectively), and spans into the pass-catching corps with Wan’Dale Robinson (23), Jalin Hyatt (22) and Daniel Bellinger (23). Meh.
Certainly, elite tackle Andrew Thomas gives the Giants one of the league’s top building blocks. After that, it is seemingly a bunch of unproven young players.
Wan’Dale Robinson showed flashes this past season. However, he needs to continue trending in the right direction and, most importantly, stay on the field.
As for John Michael Schmitz and Evan Neal, the Giants hope they can be long-term solutions on the offensive line. However, Neal is looking like a bust and Schmitz was a mixed bag during his rookie season.
Schoen has plenty of work to do to improve the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Given the status of the offense, it would be no surprise if they spent their first few picks in the draft on offensive players and focused heavily on the O-line in free agency.