The New York Giants are making another change on the offensive line. Injuries have forced the Giants’ coaching staff to make adjustments, reshuffling the left tackle position with Andrew Thomas out for the season. Ahead of their Week 10 matchup with the Carolina Panthers, the G-Men are making another change, plugging former first-round pick Evan Neal back into the lineup.
Giants moving Jermaine Eluemunor to left tackle, plugging Evan Neal at right tackle
According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston and Art Stapleton of North Jersey, Neal is expected to start at right tackle on Sunday as the Giants face the Panthers in Germany. Jermaine Eluemunor will move to left tackle.
Eluemunor has started all nine games for the Giants at right tackle this season and has been their top performer on the offensive line. With Thomas out of the lineup, Big Blue has had to shuffle in third-year guard Joshua Ezeudu and practice squad veteran Chris Hubbard at left tackle. Both players struggled immensely and with Hubbard overcoming an illness this week, moving Eluemunor seems like the smart move to restabilize the position.
This opens up a major opportunity for Neal who has been on the bench for the entirety of the season thus far. A former top-10 pick back in 2022, Neal has struggled to live up to expectations during his career and was benched at the start of this season after missing the majority of the summer while recovering from an ankle injury.
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The Giants have been planning to make this change for “several weeks”
Per Art Stapleton, the Giants “have been heading in this direction with Neal for several weeks behind the scenes, and getting him ready is unrelated to Chris Hubbard missing practice with an illness on Thursday.”
The Giants reportedly received interest around the league from teams looking to trade for Neal at the deadline. However, they were not ready to give up on the former first-round pick and elected to hold him on their roster. Now Neal is making his return to the starting lineup, giving him one last opportunity to prove his worth as a starting offensive lineman in this league.
