ESPN: The New York Giants are relying heavily on $117 million offensive tackler for…..
For the most part of the last 10 years, the offensive line of the New York Giants has suffered. One of their best players is on that same line in spite of this.
Star left tackle Andrew Thomas, who has established himself as one of the league’s top protectors, signed a lucrative $117 million contract last season.
But in 2023, things weren’t going well for Thomas. He was out for seven weeks due to a hamstring injury that he sustained during the opening week of the season. For the Giants past season, he only got to start ten games, so his absence was missed greatly.
The Giants need Thomas to be healthy for the upcoming season in order to advance and increase their offensive success.
Thomas has previously struggled with injuries. He battled through an ankle ailment during his rookie season, which had a big impact on his performances. He made progress in his second year, but the ankle continued to bother him.
After an exceptional season, Thomas had ankle surgery in the 2022 summer in an attempt to address the problem that had plagued him from the beginning of his career.
Although his ankle appeared to be fine the previous season, he suffered another setback in Week 1 when he pulled his hamstring.
The absence of Thomas had a significant impact on the Giants’ offensive line’s severe struggles during the previous campaign. By the end of the season, they had given up the most sacks of any team since 1997—85.
In Thomas’ absence, there was instability at left tackle, as veteran Justin Pugh and subsequently Joshua Ezeudu filled in. Giants quarterbacks were under constant pressure all season long.
The offense would be greatly enhanced if Thomas could maintain his health and start every one of the 17 games this season. There aren’t many NFL offensive lineman that are better than Thomas when he’s healthy and performing at his peak.
Pro Football Focus gave Thomas a career-high grade of 90.3 in 2022 after he saw just four sacks and 23 pressures in 1,173 snaps with 16 starts. During the season, he even scored a receiving touchdown.
The Giants invested a lot of money in Thomas in order to safeguard the blindside of the quarterback. He is expected to play this season in order to protect the quarterback and assist in permanently resolving the team’s offensive problems.
