The New York Giants are entering the 2020 season with one of the league’s best offensive tackles supposedly, and he hasn’t even played a snap in the NFL yet. Fourth overall pick, Andrew Thomas, has one of the highest floors of any tackles drafted this year.
Having started 15 games as a true freshman at right tackle, he spent the rest of his time with Georgia on the left side. He spent 13 games as a sophomore and 13 games as a junior on the left side. He has earned all types of accolades during his tenure with the Bulldogs, including Freshman All-American, All-SEC, first-team All-American, and first-team All-SEC.
His incredible production and efficiency in college should theoretically transition well to the NFL. The Giants allowed 11 sacks and five penalties at the left tackle position in 2019 with Nate Solder. They desperately need to upgrade the spot, and with Solder opting out of the 2020 season, Thomas will have plenty of opportunities to develop and refine his abilities.
Pro Football Focus released its rankings for the top 25 offensive tackles entering the 2020 NFL season. Andrew Thomas ranked 22nd, somehow, some way.
PFF’s Anthony Treash stated, “Yes, that’s right — a rookie cracked the top 25. He has yet to play a snap in the league, but what we saw from Thomas at Georgia makes us confident in projecting him to the NFL. Thomas played against some of the best competition in the country and earned a remarkable 92.7 PFF grade in 2019, tying for the best we have ever seen from an SEC tackle (La’el Collins in 2013 at LSU). He might struggle to start given the impact of COVID-19 on the offseason/preseason schedule, but Thomas looks like a safe bet in our eyes.”