The New York Giants, from general manager Dave Gettleman to head coach Pat Shurmur, have repeatedly praised center Jon Halapio and cautioned not to forget about him when the team re-signed fellow center Spencer Pulley to a substantial deal earlier this offseason.
Despite appearing in just two games a season ago before suffering a fractured ankle, the Giants clearly saw enough to peg Halapio as the potential anchor of their offseason line.
Even now, as he’s battling Pulley for the starting job, the overriding belief is that Halapio is the man the Giants want in that spot, and Pro Football Focus recently explained why that might be.
While breaking down five of the game’s rising stars, PFF surprisingly included Halapio, noting that he didn’t allow a single pressure last season prior to being lost due to injury.
Jon Halapio, C, New York Giants: The Giants are revamping their offensive line in a major way, but one of the unsung components of the rebuild is at center, where Halapio could emerge as a foundation piece to the new-look front. He began last year as New York’s starter before going down with an injury after just 116 snaps of action. But in those snaps, he didn’t allow a single pressure, despite almost 50 pass-blocking snaps against the Jaguars and their array of pass-rushing weapons. With vastly improved players beside him, Halapio could prove to be a significant upgrade as a player who isn’t being talked about much heading into 2019.
For his part, Halapio is happy to be healthy and admits he’s ready to take center stage on Sundays once again.
