When the New York Giants were put on the clock at No. 4 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, they already knew exactly whose name they were going to call.
It was Georgia’s Andrew Thomas, and it was always going to be Georgia’s Andrew Thomas.
In a post-draft interview, Giants’ direct of college scouting, Chris Pettit, acknowledged that the team had kept eyes on Thomas dating all the way back to 2018.
“Going back, I was at the SEC championship game in 2018 and our southeast area scout pointed out that Andrew was going to be a good player,” Pettit said, via Giants.com. “I noticed him there. We’ve known him for a long time. As far as him with the other class, this was a deep, deep class in tackles. I think everyone knows that. We were lucky we had the first chance of who we thought was the best tackle in the draft and we took him.”
Thomas was the first of 17 offensive tackles and 45 offensive linemen who were taken in the NFL Draft — a group that includes Giants’ third-round pick Matt Peart.
“I think Matt Peart is going to develop into a really good player. I’m excited to see how he’s going to develop down the line,” Pettit added.
Although the Giants had been carefully watching Thomas since 2018, Peart was a bit newer to their radar. However, both Pettit and the Giants now hope to keep eyes on the offensive tackle bookends for years to come as they dominate in East Rutherford.
