Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The New York Giants completed training camp practice No. 9 on Sunday and here are 10 quick takeaways.
After a brief day off following Friday night’s Fan Fest scrimmage, the New York Giants were back on the practice field at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Sunday.
Things kicked off with an early morning press conference featuring head coach Brian Daboll. He recapped the first two weeks of camp and gave an outlook on what’s ahead, including coordinator and assistant coach availability next week.
Here are 10 quick takeaways from practice No. 9 on Sunday.
Tough news out of New York as Giants rookie Marcus McKethan has been placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL during fan fest.
Saturday provided some tough news for a former Tar Heel as New York Giants rookie [autotag]Marcus McKethan[/autotag] has been placed on the injured reserve list after a being carted off in practice.
The 22-year-old tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a Giants’ fan fest scrimmage leading to the UNC football guard to miss his NFL rookie season. Throughout training camp, McKethan had been seeing a majority of his time as the back up to the right guard position as he learned the NFL pace. This big blow tacks on to an already depleted depth chart with the New York Giants now scrambling for a replacement.
McKethan was a fifth-round pick, selected No. 173 overall in the NFL draft as the Giants looked to beef up their offensive line after watching Daniel Jones get sacked 22 times in just 11 games.
As it stands now, McKethan will be getting his NFL experience on the sideline as a student first with a comeback year awaiting his return.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
The New York Giants have placed rookie offensive lineman Marcus McKethan on injured reserve due to a knee injury
Giants placed rookie fifth-round pick, OL Marcus McKethan, on injured reserve due to an ACL injury.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 6, 2022
The New York Giants placed rookie offensive lineman Marcus McKethan on injured reserve Saturday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
McKethan, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of North Carolina, suffered an ACL injury.
While he was expected to compete for a roster spot this season, McKethan will now have to focus on recovery and rehab, and wait to make his on-field impact next season.
[listicle id=638489]
New York Giants offensive lineman Marcus McKethan suffered a torn ACL during the Fan Fest scrimmage and will miss his rookie season.
New York Giants rookie offensive lineman Marcus McKethan, who was selected in the fifth-round of the 2022 NFL draft, will miss the season after suffering a torn ACL.
McKethan went down during the team’s Fan Fest scrimmage on Friday night and the team immediately called for the cart. After undergoing further testing, McKethan’s worst fears were realized.
The Giants officially announced that McKethan has been placed on the reserve/injured list.
G Marcus McKethan (ACL) has been placed on Reserve/Injured pic.twitter.com/evc7u7jW5J
— New York Giants (@Giants) August 6, 2022
The 6-foot-6, 340-pound McKethan had taken second-team snaps at guard and third-team snaps at tackle in practice this summer. And given the Giants’ issues with depth — especially at swing tackle — the rookie had a big opportunity on his hands.
The Giants also lost offensive lineman Matt Gono earlier this week to a serious neck injury, so their numbers are dwindling. Veteran Will Holden was recently signed simply to add a warm body.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[lawrence-related id=695227,695224,695222]
[listicle id=694615]
After getting drafted to the New York Giants, Marcus Mckethan, and Joshua Ezeudu progress gets told to media by head coach Brian Daboll.
As NFL training camps continue with preseason football games on the horizon, two Tar Heels have received some feedback based on their production so far.
Offensive lineman [autotag]Marcus McKethan[/autotag] and guard[autotag] Joshua Ezeudu’s[/autotag] teammate journey followed them to the NFL, joining the New York Giants via the 2022 NFL draft. Ezeudu got drafted in the third round as the 67th overall pick, with McKethan joining him in the 5th round. Now teammates again in New York, the pair have found their pace on the team, according to head coach Brian Daboll.
“Much like everybody else, some good, some bad.” Daboll continued,. “They’re working hard. They’re trying to do the things the way we’re asking them to do. They have good physical demeanor about themselves. They pick things up well. There was a lot of good reps out there for them, and some they probably wish they had back, but that’s for all of us.”
The pair has a good shot at making the final 53-man roster for the Giants. The question remains how much playing time with either have their first year with experience playing a factor
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
The New York Giants’ offensive line looks significantly better on paper but there may still be some depth issues.
One of the key areas New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen wanted to address when he took the job this offseason was the offensive line.
The Giants’ offense has been pitiful the past few seasons and the line has taken the brunt of the blame from the critics. That may be about to change.
With a new head coach (Brian Daboll), new offensive coordinator (Mike Kafka) and a new offensive line coach in Bobby Johnson, the approach alone should change things for the better.
Here’s a quick rundown of how the line shapes up heading into training camp.
North Carolina head coach Mack Brown thinks the New York Giants made a very smart decision by drafting two of his offensive linemen.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
The New York Giants chose not one, but two offensive linemen from the University of North Carolina in last month’s NFL draft . Those decisions drew some questions from critics about their scouting practices.
The Giants had been under fire for not dropping a wide enough net during their college scouting process and taking two players from the same institution cast some doubts if things had indeed changed.
But sometimes tapping into a good thing can, well, be a good thing. That is what veteran North Carolina head coach Mack Brown is saying about the Giants selecting two of his linemen — Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan — in this year’s draft.
“These guys, they know what they’re doing, they’re tough, they understand the game, they’re very driven,” Brown told Giants.com. “I think in the case of both of these young guys, their football is ahead of them. I really think they’re on the cutting edge of what’s next. I think the Giants were really smart in drafting both of them.”
Ezeudu was selected in the third round (67th overall) and has experience all along the line. Brown, who won a National Championship as the head coach of Texas in 2005, has also worked as a television analyst.
“Josh is really smart, and he can play anywhere. He’s very athletic,” Brown said. “We thought he was one of the best offensive linemen in the country. In fact, we wanted him to come back because we thought he could be a first or second rounder the next year. I think he’s just going to grow and grow and all of it is ahead of him. He had a sore knee at one point. He also fought through an ankle, so he’s tough. He played through all of those issues.”
Ezeudu played both guard and center at UNC and that was what attracted him to the Giants. In their scouting of him, they likely discovered the 6-foot-7, 340-pound McKethan, a punishing guard, in the fifth round.
First-year general manager Joe Schoen was excited about adding both players.
“Huge human being. Very good size, length. Again, some versatility, he’s played tackle and he’s played guard,” Schoen said of McKethan. “Again, going to add depth and competition to the roster. We’ll probably start him at guard, but he does have tackle flex.”
[listicle id=691825]
The New York Giants entered the offseason in desperate need of offensive linemen and now have both quality and depth.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbx61yex5whq8aq player_id=none image=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen knew coming in the door this past winter that he had a lot of work ahead of him when it came to the offensive line.
Several months and nearly a dozen personnel moves later, Schoen has addressed the Giants’ most glaring issue with both quantity and quality. The team now has loads of options along the offensive line and it should be markedly improved in 2022.
The process began with just one spot on the line chiseled in stone — left tackle — where former first round pick Andrew Thomas has developed into an asset. The other four spots were wide open after the team shed themselves of some underachieving players, while others remain on the outside looking in as they rehab from injuries.
The Giants’ depth chart was scant: Shane Lemieux, Nick Gates, Matt Peart, Ben Bredeson, Wes Martin, Korey Cunningham and Devery Hamilton.
Lemieux, Gates and Peart are all still in the throes of coming back from serious injuries. The others were brought in as replacements on the fly.
Schoen went out shopping in the low rent district and managed to pull in veteran free agents Mark Glowinski, Max Garcia, Jamil Douglas, Matt Gono and Jon Feliciano. Then, he signed the massive Roy Mbaeteka out of the NFL’s international program.
Right there he could have stopped. They could make a serviceable line out of those players but Schoen still had the draft head of him.
In the draft, Schoen got an early Christmas present when Alabama tackle Evan Neal fell into his lap at No. 7 overall on Thursday night. Neal will start Day 1 at right tackle and gives the Giants an enviable pair of bookends along with Thomas.
Later in the draft, Schoen added two North Carolina linemen in Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan. Ezeudu is noted for his versatility at both guard and tackle and McKethan is a 6-foot-7, 340-pound guard who just overwhelms defenders with his size and strength.
Now comes the hard part. Getting a starting five out of all of this volume. We know Thomas and Neal will be the tackles but who will be the other seven (or eight) who will fill out the roster.
“We’ll see once we get pads on and things like that,” head coach Brian Daboll said after the draft. “I know the guys are hard working. They are smart. They show some toughness when you watch them on tape. The people that we’ve had in the building are dependable. It’s been good to go into meetings with (offensive line coaches) Bobby (Johnson) and Tony (Sparano) and those guys. They are eager.
“Again, let’s not make it more than it is. Your job is to protect the inside part of the pocket and the width of the pocket and get moving in the running game, but that position you need five guys operating as one unit. And that is what will be really important.
“You’ll see. I know I will get a lot of questions on it once we get out in OTAs, and I’ll tell you right now, there are going to be a lot of guys mixing and matching. You can write the lineup down each day, but it’s going to change from day to day.”
With Gates’ future still uncertain, the Giants will use Feliciano at center. Glowinski was inked to a three-year deal so we expect him to be one of the starting guards. The other guard position is wide open. You can expect Lemieux, if healthy, to get a shot as well as Garcia and Douglas. You can add Ezeudu to that mix as well.
It is a refreshing change for the Giants now that their weakest unit has been turned into a major strength.
[listicle id=691453]
With the No. 173 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select North Carolina offensive lineman Marcus McKethan.
With the No. 173 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the New York Giants select North Carolina offensive lineman Marcus McKethan.
McKethan is an interesting choice if for no other reason than that he was teammates with Joshua Ezeudu, whom the Giants selected in the third round.
It’s no secret that New York needed to work on the offensive line during free agency and throughout the draft, and McKethan represents the third lineman taken — the second guard.
At 6-foot-6 and 340 pounds, McKethan certainly has the NFL size. However, like Ezeudu before him, he’s far more adept at run blocking than pass protection. That will likely prevent him from earning a starting job — which is now also a numbers game — but the long-term potential is very much there.
Here is what NFL Network draft guru Lance Zierlein had to say about McKethan:
Three-year starter offering premium size and length at the guard position. McKethan plays to his size with the ability to mash and move single blocks and double teams. He’s best suited for gap and power schemes, but will struggle against moving fronts that force him to react quickly to action in his gaps. The pass protection is going to be a little leaky due to his lack of slide quickness and trouble versus twists. McKethan’s blend of size and power should make him a Day 3 pick and future NFL backup.
McKethan is very much a long-term protect with a decently high potential ceiling. His chance to make the 53-man roster is slim (pending injuries), but he’ll likely be carried on the practice squad and molded over the course of the 2022 season.
[lawrence-related id=691352,691348,691345]
