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New York Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas drew the short straw to start his NFL career, squaring off against T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree in Week 1 and then Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn in Week 2.
That’s a tall order for anyone, let alone a rookie making his first two professional starts.
For that reason, it should come as little surprise that Pro Football Focus has Thomas as one of the lowest-graded first-round rookies through two weeks of the season. However, that comes with an obvious asterisk, which those at PFF won’t shy away from.
Although Thomas is graded low in comparison to other first-round rookies, that’s a product of going up against much more elite talent than many of the others.
2020 overall grade: 56.0
You could be forgiven for thinking Thomas’ below-average grade this week was a result of Khalil Mack taking the rookie to task, but the majority of his losses didn’t come at the hands of Mack. The Chicago All-Pro did beat him for a hurry and another clean pass-rush win, but the majority of the damage came against Robert Quinn, with some of the Bears’ interior players causing Thomas some problems in the run game.
It hasn’t been a tremendously encouraging start for Thomas, but on the other hand, he has been up against some pretty fierce competition for his first two weeks of NFL football and just about kept his head above water.
Meanwhile, Jedrick Wills Jr. (Cleveland Browns) has earned a 66.4 grade through two weeks, while Mekhi Becton (New York Jets) and Tristan Wirfs have earned grades of 79.7 and 76.4, respectively.
Austin Jackson of the Miami Dolphins, who was taken with pick No. 18, has the lowest grade of any first-round offensive tackle, earning a 47.9 through two weeks.
We’ll see how Thomas’ grades stack up as the season moves along.
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