The New York Giants already have their rock on the offensive line

Continuity on the New York Giants’ offensive line has been difficult to come by. A revolving door at left and right tackle led the team to spend the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft on shoring up the position.

Just two years ago, the Giants featured Ereck Flower at one of the most important positions. Don’t forget about Chad Wheeler and Jamon Brown attempting to hold down the right side.

Since that mess of a protection scheme, the Giants have taken positive steps forward. They attempted to supplement the left tackle position with Nate Solder, which at the time seems like a good idea. Personal issues and a failure to transition from a New England style offense has enabled struggles most didn’t anticipate.

While a majority of the line remains developing, there is one building block that represents consistency.

His name is Kevin Zeitler, and he represents the only positive mark on the line from 2019.

Offensive line coach Paul Alexander, who featured on the ‘Valentine’s Views’ podcast had great things to say about Kevin Zeitler:

“He is the team leader that you want. I’m going to be honest with you, when we let him go with the Bengals, which I was furious about, that hurt us. And it hurt Cleveland when he left there. To me, I thought that was a great pickup by the Giants.

“He’s the type of guy that you build a championship around. He’s a winner.”

”Kevin Zeitler should be a Pro Bowl player. He plays at an elite level. He’s big, strong, tough, very productive, excellent technician, very dependable… He is the team leader that you want.”

According to PFF, his first season with the Giants was his best to date. He was the highest-rated pass-blocking guard with a 91.7. In his eight seasons in the NFL, Zeitler’s past-blocking grade has landed in the top-15 seven times among qualifying guards.

At the very least, the Giants know they have a stud at right guard. However, it takes a lot more to achieve continuity in the trenches. The drafting of Andrew Thomas should help to some degree, and I believe we will see an improved unit in 2020.