The New York Giants signed left tackle Nate Solder to a $62 million deal prior to the 2018 season in an effort to help improve the team’s horrendous offensive line play.
In addition to Solder, they did a little tinkering elsewhere, inserting Jon Halapio at center and drafting Will Hernandez to take over at left guard. Later on in the season, they also added Jamon Brown to step in at right tackle.
So what did all that investing yield the Giants? Very little.
The Giants finished the season among the league worst in pass-blocking efficiency, which is an issue that’s plagued the team for years and is a contributing factor in the below average play of quarterback Eli Manning.
Pro Football Focus had the Giants graded out ahead of just seven teams in 2018, six of which came within 2.5 points of Big Blue.
25. NEW YORK GIANTS
2018 pass-blocking efficiency: 82.8The big-money deal for Nate Solder did little to improve a unit that finished 20th in this statistic a year ago. Continuing a problem that has been with the Giants for a while now, the Giants’ offensive allowed the sixth-most pressures among teams (190), including the fifth-most quarterback hurries (139).
Manning has never been a mobile quarterback, so without a pocket, there’s very little meat left on the bone for him to succeed. And while many armchair GMs continue to single out Manning as the problem, it’s clear their offensive line issues persist. And those struggles will continue until they finally get it right and repair their O-line. Tick tock.
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