This season is make or break for New York Giants tackle Andrew Thomas. While it will only be Thomas’ sophomore season in the league, his performance in year one failed to live up to the expectations of many and made it look like the Giants overdrafted him when better performing players were available. There’s not going to be much patience from the fans and media for Thomas to turn it around, and that bounce back must begin in the early season this year when the Giants face multiple tough defenses.
Despite all the pressure, Thomas is still confident in his abilities. He said as much while talking to reporters on Monday, when the matter of his preseason performance came up.
When asked if the preseason game against the Patriots was a fair indicator of where his game is right now, Thomas disagreed with the idea.
“I wouldn’t say that. I would say I had a long camp, a lot of practices, a lot of good practices. Didn’t play in the Browns game, but I’ve been working hard in training camp and I think I’m prepared for the season,” Thomas said.
Thomas did indeed make mistakes in the performance, which will surely be highlighted by the Broncos’ pass rushers in week 1. However, he also claimed that some of those mistakes have already been addressed in practice.
He described the performance as more of a learning experience than a step backwards.
“I wouldn’t say necessarily a step backwards, but definitely a learning experience. Like I said, I went back over the tape, (and) corrected some things going into the season.”
Major expectations on Thomas in week 1
Like last season, an undermanned New York Giants offensive line will have to go up against some intimidating defenses early in the season with a lot on the line. This time, the season is opening against the Broncos and the matchup at hand is particularly unforgiving for Andrew Thomas.
Thomas is faced with a Broncos pass rush including Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, posing a similar challenge to some of the tough defenses that he faced in the early run of games in his rookie season.
It seems like Thomas has more or less been unlucky throughout his career, being handed a tough schedule to start his rookie year with in 2020 and also playing with an injury. Despite that, the crucial nature of his position means that the expectations are just as high even if Thomas has understandable reasons to struggle.
While you can’t judge a season from one game, the one this weekend will definitely make an impression in one way or another that lasts for weeks after the game has happened. We won’t know until after the game on Sunday if that impression is a positive or negative one.