Just two years ago the New York Giants had one of the worst offense of lines in the NFL. Composed of Ereck Flowers at left tackle, Justin Pugh at left guard, Weston Richburg at center, John Jerry at right guard, and Bobby Hart at right tackle.
Some may say general manager Dave Gettleman hasn’t done a great job piecing together the new-age Giants team that has won just eight games in the last two seasons. However, last year the team took a major step forward, finally building through the NFL draft and not relying on expensive free agents to supplement the deficiencies on the team.
A short one year later after Gettleman was brought on to overhaul the team, the offensive line now has three potential Pro Bowl Players. Nate solder At left tackle, Will Hernandez at left guard, and Kevin Zeitler at right guard. Eli Manning, veteran passer for the Giants going into his 15th season, will benefit from the overhaul Gettleman induced on the team, especially the offensive line.
Manning recorded record numbers, statistically, with Pat Shurmur in the first year of installing his offensive playbook. With an additional year of experience utilizing Shurmur’s scheme, Manning theoretically should have an improved season in 2019. The offense of line coming together with Zeitler, a top-five guard in the NFL, will allow him to operate at an efficient level.
Additionally, Solder, who played alongside Tom Brady before signing a record deal with the Giants, was forced to adapt to a different style of offense and quarterback with Eli last year. Nate was accustomed to a shorter drop back by Brady, and when he joined the Giants he needed to adjust his technique to Manning, who has a deeper drop back.
At the beginning of the season, he was pushing his assignments into Manning because he was familiar with Brady’s drop back and his ability to step up into the pocket. However, he adapted to the new style of play that was required and finished the season on a high note. After having his ankle cleaned up this off-season with a small surgery, he is 100% healthy and ready to take his game to the next level in 2019.
At the right tackle position, Mike Remmers was signed to solidify a spot that has been weak in recent years. He has familiarity with Shermer’s offense which gives him a leg up over Chad wheeler who started in 2018. With the improvements to the offensive front, the trenches should be solidified and Manning should have more time in the pocket to operate.
Manning has developed bad habits over the past few years due to the lack of time in the pocket, but we should see some of those stresses alleviate with the additions to the line. This unit will likely be far improved and we should see the efficiency of the offense increase exponentially.