For most of the first five weeks of the 2026 NFL season, the New York Giants’ offensive line has rarely been a source of fan complaints.
The team’s handful of offseason investments in the group seem to have extended its 2025 success and paid early dividends, with New York’s unit ranking eighth in the league in pass-blocking efficiency after finishing in the top three a year ago.
Even with the unexpected change at quarterback from the injured Jaxson Dart to Jameis Winston, the Giants have put together a few strong offensive outings that are among the catalysts for their 3-1-1 start, which puts them atop the NFC East standings through five games for the first time since 2009.
However, the old injury issue that used to mar the offensive line almost every year is starting to rear its ugly head again. In particular, the bookend tackles, Andrew Thomas (groin) and Jermaine Eluemunor (calf), either played through or had to leave their Week 5 matchup against the Washington Commanders because of ailments.
Both players’ statuses raise concerns as the Giants prepare for their next home game against the New Orleans Saints, yet the unit still earned a three-spot jump to No. 17 in PFF’s latest offensive line rankings.
Fixing the Giants' Run Struggles Starts Up Front
PFF elevated the Giants’ offensive line mainly because of the recent switch from John Michael Schmitz to Bryan Hudson at starting center.
The Giants tried to be patient with Schmitz, but the fourth-year player hasn’t lived up to his second-round draft status. Injuries forced him to miss 10 games in his first three seasons with the team, and his inability to wrestle with bigger defensive tackles has dented his overall blocking.
John Harbaugh’s decision to move Hudson to the starting middle has brought back some promising returns. The former undrafted free agent has been stellar in his first 102 snaps, allowing just one pressure and being a serviceable blocker in the run game.
While it is good to see improvement at one position along the offensive front, it doesn’t cure the two glaring issues that have started to plague the Giants’ success: key injuries and a failure to produce solid protection for the rushing attack.
The Giants have posted more than 100 yards on the ground in three of their first five games, but the bully-ball prowess they sought to terrorize opposing defenses just hasn’t made a huge difference.
Harbaugh made sure to bring over his beloved fullback, Patrick Ricard, from Baltimore to help the cause and provide an extra 300-pound force to open up rushing lanes for Cam Skattebo and company, and the addition has been serviceable.
Ricard can’t affect the first line of protection, though. That comes from the three interior linemen (Jon Runyan, Schmitz before he was benched, and rookie Francis Mauigoa), and entering Week 6, all three are sitting near the basement of the Giants’ run-blocking grades and have been prone to committing some of the team’s penalties on those plays.
As their efforts haven't held up week to week, New York’s interior rushing efficiency has started to plummet toward the bottom half of the league. The Giants rank 25th in average yards per rush up the middle (3.02) and barely tread above 4 yards per attempt between the guard spots.
Not all of the rushing woes belong to the offensive line, either. The backfield also deserves some blame for poor ball protection that has yielded five fumbles in as many games, including the most recent by Skattebo in overtime against the Commanders, which nearly gave the Giants a crushing divisional loss.
Still, the protection up front has to improve if the Giants want to rely more on their physical ground game at a higher clip than the 3.7 yards per carry the team is averaging overall.
The Giants will also need to monitor how things progress with Thomas and Eluemunor, since the two veteran tackles are arguably the best pass blockers the team has had in recent years.
Repairing what has been a weak run game is hard enough. Losing one or both of those pieces for this Sunday’s game against the Saints could make for an even tougher afternoon for Big Blue’s inconsistent offense.
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