The New York Giants’ offensive line has been the bane of the team’s existence for the better part of the last decade. This offseason, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll have worked diligently to upgrade the unit, hiring new offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and signing him a pair of veteran offensive linemen in free agency.
Newcomer Jermaine Eluemunor is one of the team’s most exciting pickups from the offseason. As the Giants prepare to kick off training camp this week, Eluemunor will be one of the top players to keep an eye on throughout the summer.
PFF names Jermaine Eluemunor the Giants’ top player to watch at training camp
In a recent article naming the top player to watch for every time during training camp, Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus selected Eluemunor for the Giants:
“The 29-year-old put together a solid past two seasons with the Raiders, particularly as a run-blocker,” Locker wrote. “But the Giants will ask Eluemunor to do something he hasn’t done much of at the NFL level: play left guard, where he has only 11 career snaps. That transition, especially as a predominant right tackle, might not be the most straightforward.
“After the Giants finished dead last in pass-blocking grade last year, head coach Brian Daboll will be entrusting Eluemunor to step in, learn a new position and swiftly protect Jones much better than the team did in 2023.”
In 2023, Eluemunor earned a 68.7 overall PFF grade as he surrendered just 28 total pressures and six sacks across 905 total offensive snaps. He appeared in all 17 games and made 14 starts for the Raiders on the campaign.
The Giants’ offensive line surrendered a league-high 85 sacks during the 2023-24 campaign — the most by any team in a single NFL season since 1997. Eluemunor was a member of the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive line which ranked No. 10 in the NFL by PFF last season. He is reuniting with offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo who the Giants hired from the Las Vegas Raiders earlier this offseason.
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Eluemunor faces a tall task ahead in the 2024 season
PFF’s Locker did a fine job detailing the tall challenge Eluemunor is facing as he enters his first season with Big Blue. Not only does he need to serve as a massive upgrade as a pass-protector, but he also needs to do it in a new position. Throughout OTAs and minicamp in the spring, the Giants had Eluemunor aligned at left guard.
Eluemunor’s best seasons have come at right tackle. The expectation for Eluemunor, when the Giants signed him this offseason, was that he would compete with Evan Neal for the starting right tackle job. Instead, it seems like Neal will get the first crack at the starting lineup, with Eluemunor serving as an insurance plan behind him, meanwhile starting elsewhere on the line.
Eluemunor has the versatility to play left guard, right guard, and right tackle. This will be a valuable trait for a Giants offensive line that has dealt with a surplus of injuries and inconsistent performances over the last few seasons.
