The New York Giants made a position-change mid-game during their contest with the Tennessee Titans in Week 1. Ben Bredeson began the game as the starting left guard for the Giants, filling in for Shane Lemieux as he is on injured reserve. Bredeson saw the field for 33 snaps, though, before the coaching staff made a switch. Rookie left guard Joshua Ezeudu was rotated into the lineup, seeing 29 snaps in his regular-season debut.
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How Joshua Ezeudu graded out in Week One
The New York Giants drated Joshua Ezeudu in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft. With the 67th overall pick, the Giants selected Ezeudu after he spent three years as a starter on UNC’s offensive line. Ezeudu was versatile in college, spending time at both left guard and left tackle. The Giants drafted Joshua to play on the interior of their line as a left guard.
Playing half of the game for the Giants on Sunday, Joshua Ezeudu had his ups-and-downs. As a run-blocker, Ezeudu was solid. He threw out a couple of key blocks, including one to seal off a defender and give Saquon Barkley a lane to the end zone.
Joshua Ezeudu earned a respectable 65.6 overall run-blocking grade via PFF on Sunday. He pancaked a couple of defenders and thrived at times while creating rushing lanes for Saquon Barkley.
However, in pass protection, Ezeudu left a lot to be desired. PFF graded him with a 0.0 overall pass-blocking grade. According to PFF, Joshua Ezeudu was on the field for 11 pass-blocking snaps. He allowed one sack, one hurry, and two pressures within that small sample size of passing plays.
The Giants should be encouraged by what they saw from Joshua Ezeudu in the running game during his debut. However, there is clearly a lot of room for Ezeudu to improve.
Regardless, the Giants made a bold decision to baptize a mid-round rookie by fire and push their third-round pick onto the field. Joshua Ezeudu handled the responsibility well enough and turned in a performance off of which he and the coaching staff can build.
The New York Giants should be encouraged by Joshua Ezeudu’s performance against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.