Tag: Will Hernandez

Is the Giants offensive line ‘too old’ under Dave Gettleman?

Is the New York Giants’ offensive line assembled by general manager Dave Gettleman “too old” headed into the 2021 season?

When New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman logged into Zoom for a conference call on Tuesday, it didn’t take long before things got a bit heated.

NFL Network’s Kim Jones challenged Gettleman on his offensive line, repeatedly pressing him about the presence of Nate Solder and Kevin Zeitler.

That exchange can be seen below:

In 2020, the Giants had an offensive line that featured a rotation including Andrew Thomas, Will Hernandez, Shane Lemieux, Nick Gates, Kevin Zeitler, Cam Fleming and Matt Peart. Three of them were rookies and one was a first-time starter at center.

For reference, here are their current ages:

  • Andrew Thomas (21)
  • Will Hernandez (25)
  • Shane Lemieux (23)
  • Nick Gates (25)
  • Kevin Zeitler (30)
  • Cam Fleming (28)
  • Matt Peart (23)

Note: When the 2020 season started, Thomas was 20 and Gates was 24.

That comes out to an average age of exactly 25. If we’re being objective and honest, that is not “old” by NFL standards and is actually quite young when accounting for Gates’ lack of experience.

In fact, the Giants had one of the youngest 53-man rosters in the league as of September of last year. At an average age of 25.7, only eight other teams could boast about more youth. So what does it say about New York’s offensive line when their average age was younger than a collective roster that was among the most youthful in football?

In 2021, the unit will look relatively similar but will likely be without Fleming. Instead, there’s a possibility that Nate Solder (32) returns after opting out last season due to COVID-19 concerns.

“When your center and your left guard and your left tackle are rookies, basically you’re young,” Gettleman said.

Based on their previous rotation, the presence of Solder would boost the offensive line’s average age from 25 to 25.6, but even then they’d be younger than one of the youngest collective rosters in the NFL.

Of course, there is no guarantee that either Solder or Zeitler return in 2021. The Giants have already approached Solder about a potential restructure/pay cut and rumors persist that Zeitler is very much on the trading block.

Gettleman also left open the possibility that Peart, not Solder, would start at right tackle this season, making the Giants’ offensive line one of the youngest in football (starting five would have an average age of 24.4).

“I am, yes,” Gettleman said when asked if he’d be comfortable with Thomas and Peart both starting. “When [Peart] played, he played fine. He played pretty damn well. At some point in time, you’ve got to let the young kids play. Listen, every player was a rookie at some point or a young player at some point. At some point in time, you have to have confidence in who’s on your club and you have to put him in there and let him play.”

It’s a strange scenario because on one hand, Gettleman was being hammered for supporting aging veterans. On the other hand, he was being hammered for having faith in young guys starting. Both sides of the same coin were being played against him, which has become the norm over the past two years.

It’s also important to remember what Gettleman inherited when he took over as general manager in December of 2017. At the time of his hiring, the Giants’ offensive line consisted of the following: LT Ereck Flowers (23), LG John Jerry (31), C Brett Jones (26), RG Jon Halapio (26) and RT Justin Pugh (27).

For those counting, that’s an average age of 26.6.

Was signing Solder (who was 29 at the time) that next offseason to a four-year, $62 million contract a good idea? No, it wasn’t and everyone knew that then. Hindsight views may have changed in recent years, but their was a collective notion that the Giants did what they needed to with Solder contract numbers be damned. They couldn’t enter the season with Flowers at left tackle and needed to upgrade at any cost.

The debate can rage whether or not Solder was an upgrade over Flowers (hint: he was), but context matters. It’s easy to argue against the decision now, but precious few were doing it then.

Still, there’s no denying that the success or failure of the offensive line fails squarely on Gettleman’s shoulders. He promised to fix the “hog mollies” upon his arrival and so far, that has not happened. Pro Football Focus ranked the Giants’ offensive line 31st in the NFL last season and that does not reflect well any way you slice it.

But old? No. The Giants’ offensive line is anything but old.

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Would guard Joe Thuney make sense for Giants?

The New York Giants have needs at various positions, but guard is not high on that list. Would veteran Joe Thuney make sense anyway?

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The New York Giants have several significant areas of need they must address this offseason and none of them come inside at the guard spot. However, that may change if general manager Dave Gettleman decides to move on from Will Hernandez and/or opts to release Kevin Zeitler to create some cap space.

In the event that either of those moves happen — and even if they don’t — might the Giants consider an offensive line shuffle to help fit Joe Thuney into the fold?

Thuney’s name has been thrown around more and more in recent days with some beginning to speculate that he could be a fit for the Giants. FanSided’s Matt Lombardo is one of them.

If the NY Giants are not sold on Lemieux developing into a long-term solution at guard (and at this stage, why would they be?), Thuney makes some sense. Likewise, if the Giants move on from Kevin Zeitler and his $14.5 million cap number in 2021, Thuney would be an obvious candidate to replace him.

The New England Patriots-to-Giants pipeline is well-worn at this point, and Joe Judge’s presence as head coach makes New York a fit for Thuney. However, the Giants are currently just $920,000 under the projected salary cap, so it might take some lifting to be in position to beat Thuney’s market.

Lombardo isn’t alone. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox also believes the Giants should hone in on Thuney and find a way to get him on board.

If the Giants do generate some much-needed cap room, Patriots guard Joe Thuney could be the perfect free-agent target. He has also played tackle in New England and played at least 97 percent of the offensive snaps in each of his five pro campaigns. He allowed just two sacks over 980 snaps this past season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Adding the 28-year-old Thuney could help bolster the Giants line for the long term. This would be a major benefit as the Giants look to develop, protect and/or determine the future of quarterback Daniel Jones. To this point, protection has been an issue for the third-year pro, who has taken 83 sacks in his 27 NFL games.

The prospect of adding Thuney is an interesting one, but it would require several dominoes to fall into place. It would also come at a major expense and potentially prevent the Giants from adding the top-end playmakers they covet.

While the offensive line has been a problem for nearly a decade now, the team is much more secure at the guard spots than they are at the other positions. Head coach Joe Judge seems to like Shane Lemieux at left guard and Zeitler is easily the Giants’ most steady offensive lineman at right guard. And if the argument against him is that his contract is too rich for New York’s blood, what would that mean for Thuney who is likely to demand an even larger salary?

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Can Will Hernandez revitalize his Giants career in 2021?

Will Hernandez appears to have fallen fast, but can he revitalize his New York Giants career in 2021?

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Will Hernandez began the 2020 season as the New York Giants’ starting left guard, having started all 32 games there since being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft by Big Blue out of Texas-El Paso.

Hernandez started the first seven games last year before testing positive for COVID-19 and spending 12 days on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

When Hernandez was activated from the list on November 10, he found himself out of a job. Rookie Shane Lemieux had made the most of his opportunity and bumped Hernandez to the bench. Lemieux started the final nine games of 2020 at left guard and took the lion’s share of the snaps there for the rest of the year. Hernandez played less than a third of the snaps at left tackle after returning from illness.

When head coach Joe Judge was grilled about Hernandez’ reduced role before the Giants’ season finale against Dallas, his response shed little light on the subject.

“We’re continuing to roll our linemen throughout the game. There hasn’t been a designated snap count on any player going in,” he said. “Look, I’ve let Guge (Dave DeGuglielmo) have some autonomy in terms of as the game gets going, the flow goes, to put in what we think is best for the schemes that we’re running. We check in and we talk continuously throughout the week. The plan is to play all of our guys at the game. It’s always been our plan and to use guys continuously. You saw Matt (Peart) play as well last night. We’ll continue to use Will, and we’ll rotate all three guards going forward.”

True. DeGuglielmo came in midseason and took over the role of offensive line coach and the next thing we all knew, Hernandez was no longer a key cog on the line.

“Look, we base everything here on production, so in terms of who’s playing on what snaps, we may have different guys in different schemes,” said Judge. “There are different times we want to use different guys throughout the game. We put priority on keeping all of our guys fresh, and we’re looking to really develop as many guys as we can. I’d say all three guards, Kevin (Zeitler), Shane and Will, have played well at times. There have been things we want to improve on with our entire unit going across the board. But we’re going to continue to rotate those guys going forward.”

Well, in Week 17, neither Hernandez nor Peart saw the field. Hernandez got the infamous DNP (did not play), meaning he was dressed on the sidelines but did not enter the game.

What does this mean for Hernandez going forward? Do the Giants still see him as the future at left guard? DeGuglielmo is gone now, so maybe the new new O-line coach, Rob Sale, will get back to the original plan at left guard.

If Hernandez has been beaten out by Lemieux, it’s a further indictment of general manager Dave Gettleman’s questionable drafting ability. Hernandez, as a second round selection should not lose his job after two seasons to a fifth round pick. Another example of this franchise spinning its wheels.

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Can Will Hernandez revitalize his Giants career in 2021?

Will Hernandez appears to have fallen fast, but can he revitalize his New York Giants career in 2021?

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Will Hernandez began the 2020 season as the New York Giants’ starting left guard, having started all 32 games there since being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft by Big Blue out of Texas-El Paso.

Hernandez started the first seven games last year before testing positive for COVID-19 and spending 12 days on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

When Hernandez was activated from the list on November 10, he found himself out of a job. Rookie Shane Lemieux had made the most of his opportunity and bumped Hernandez to the bench. Lemieux started the final nine games of 2020 at left guard and took the lion’s share of the snaps there for the rest of the year. Hernandez played less than a third of the snaps at left tackle after returning from illness.

When head coach Joe Judge was grilled about Hernandez’ reduced role before the Giants’ season finale against Dallas, his response shed little light on the subject.

“We’re continuing to roll our linemen throughout the game. There hasn’t been a designated snap count on any player going in,” he said. “Look, I’ve let Guge (Dave DeGuglielmo) have some autonomy in terms of as the game gets going, the flow goes, to put in what we think is best for the schemes that we’re running. We check in and we talk continuously throughout the week. The plan is to play all of our guys at the game. It’s always been our plan and to use guys continuously. You saw Matt (Peart) play as well last night. We’ll continue to use Will, and we’ll rotate all three guards going forward.”

True. DeGuglielmo came in midseason and took over the role of offensive line coach and the next thing we all knew, Hernandez was no longer a key cog on the line.

“Look, we base everything here on production, so in terms of who’s playing on what snaps, we may have different guys in different schemes,” said Judge. “There are different times we want to use different guys throughout the game. We put priority on keeping all of our guys fresh, and we’re looking to really develop as many guys as we can. I’d say all three guards, Kevin (Zeitler), Shane and Will, have played well at times. There have been things we want to improve on with our entire unit going across the board. But we’re going to continue to rotate those guys going forward.”

Well, in Week 17, neither Hernandez nor Peart saw the field. Hernandez got the infamous DNP (did not play), meaning he was dressed on the sidelines but did not enter the game.

What does this mean for Hernandez going forward? Do the Giants still see him as the future at left guard? DeGuglielmo is gone now, so maybe the new new O-line coach, Rob Sale, will get back to the original plan at left guard.

If Hernandez has been beaten out by Lemieux, it’s a further indictment of general manager Dave Gettleman’s questionable drafting ability. Hernandez, as a second round selection should not lose his job after two seasons to a fifth round pick. Another example of this franchise spinning its wheels.

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Eli Manning preaches patience with Giants’ offensive line

Retired New York Giants QB Eli Manning says it’s important to show patience when it comes to offensive line development.

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Retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning knows a thing or two about playing behind a struggling offensive line. He also knows a few things about playing behind a quality offensive line.

In order to go from bad to good, there must be some level of patience. And that’s exactly what Manning is preaching as it relates to the Giants’ current O-line.

“I think there are stages to that,” Manning told Forbes. “When I first go to the Giants…it took a little time for all of them to kind of mold into that strong unit, which they became a couple years later.”

Manning said that a part of the offensive line’s growth falls on the shoulders of the quarterback. In this instance, that means Daniel Jones, who will be entering his third professional season in 2021.

Both Eli and his father, Archie, believe that it’s imperative for the quarterback to coach them up, hype them up and keep them focused as opposed to chastising them and offering critical takes of their mistakes.

“You should do everything you can to make sure these young offensive linemen have confidence — or maybe I put it in another way where they don’t lose confidence,” Archie said. “The main thing is to, is to keep getting better — pump those guys up. I’ve never thought it was a good idea to really chastise a young lineman. You encourage them. They usually they know when they’ve messed up so you say, ‘You know, we’re going to correct that and get the better.'”

The good news for the Giants is that both Eli and Archie believe the team has quality talent capable of making the leap. Now it’s about finding patience and allowing things to gel.

“I think there are some young offensive lineman on the Giants — Nick Gates at center, Will Hernandez [at guard] and draft picks [tackle Andrew Thomas, guard Shane Lemieux and tackle Matt Peart]. I think as they get more comfortable and more experienced and, get to stay, hopefully in that same system for a number of years, they’ll continue to grow and be a really strong unit,” Eli said.

Giants fans have run out of patience, but head coach Joe Judge seems to have plenty. That’s good news for the offensive line and the organization as a whole.

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Giants-Cowboys Week 17: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants won their Week 17 game against the Dallas Cowboys. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 23-19, in Week 17 but came up short in the NFC East as the Washington Football Team took down the tanking Philadelphia Eagles.

With the win, the Giants end the season 6-10 but did so by going 5-3 over their final eight weeks. They also finished 4-2 within the division and very realistically should have finished 5-1, but they (literally) dropped the ball in Week 7 against Philly.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ final win of the season.

Offensive snaps: 58
Defensive snaps: 82
Special teams snaps: 30

There was no offensive line rotation in Week 17. Matt Peart and Will Hernandez did not log a single snap, while rookie Shane Lemieux led the offense with 58.

Defensively, Julian Love completely supplanted Isaac Yiadom at CB2. Yiadom played just one snap, while Love took all but one defensive snap. Linebacker David Mayo also saw a substantially decreased role due to the return of Kyler Fackrell, who was on the field 66% of the time.

Finally, kudos to Patrick Graham for finding a way to keep Logan Ryan, Jabrill Peppers and Xavier McKinney all on the field.

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Joe Judge explains why Shane Lemieux is playing more than Will Hernandez

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge recently explained why rookie OL Shane Lemieux is playing more than OL Will Hernandez.

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Will Hernandez was selected by the New York Giants in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft and started the first 39 games of his NFL career at left guard.

Then, Hernandez went on the COVID-19 list after testing positive for the virus in early November. He’s been the odd man out ever since.

Rookie Shane Lemieux has started the Giants’ last eight games, even though Hernandez has been healthy and active for last six. Lemieux has wrested the job the away from Hernandez to the point where the platoon is becoming less equitable with each passing game.

On Sunday against Baltimore, Lemieux played 54 of the Giants’ 64 offensive plays at left guard to Hernandez’ 10.

Head coach Joe Judge was asked about the change in plans at left guard in his media session on Monday.

“We’re continuing to roll our linemen throughout the game. There hasn’t been a designated snap count on any player going in,” explained Judge. “Look, I’ve let [Dave DeGuglielmo] have some autonomy in terms of as the game gets going, the flow goes, to put in what we think is best for the schemes that we’re running. We check in and we talk continuously throughout the week.

“The plan is to play all of our guys at the game. It’s always been our plan and to use guys continuously. You saw Matt (Peart) play as well last night. We’ll continue to use Will, and we’ll rotate all three guards going forward.”

Time for a fact check. Right guard Kevin Zeitler is not being rotated. Hernandez was inserted into the game in Week 10 as an injury replacement for Zeitler late in the game. Since then, Zeitler has played 100 percent of the offensive snaps at right guard.

Lemieux’s hold on left has been tight, playing nearly 80 percent of the time there. Hernandez has not swayed the coaches to consider giving him his job back even though Lemieux has had his issues at the position, specifically in pass protection.

“Look, we base everything here on production, so in terms of who’s playing on what snaps, we may have different guys in different schemes,” continued Judge. “There are different times we want to use different guys throughout the game. We put priority on keeping all of our guys fresh, and we’re looking to really develop as many guys as we can. I’d say all three guards, Kevin (Zeitler), Shane and Will, have played well at times. There have been things we want to improve on with our entire unit going across the board. But we’re going to continue to rotate those guys going forward.”

We will see how much the Giants value Hernandez next year when his rookie contract is up. It’s tough to let a second round pick walk via free agency, but these are the 2020 Giants. No one is quite sure what the thought process is any more.

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Giants-Ravens Week 16: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 16 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants knew they were in for a tough fight against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, but they did not seem fully prepared.

Big Blue left the gate with a stumble and couldn’t get up to speed until the second half and by that time the game was already over. They were unable to dig themselves out of a hole against Lamar Jackson & Co, ultimately taking the loss, 27-13.

However, thanks to the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, the Giants remain in the NFC East hunt and could even find themselves crowned champions in Week 17.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ tenth loss of the season

Offensive snaps: 59
Defensive snaps: 66
Special teams snaps: 23

Although we understand Joe Judge’s decision to rotate offensive linemen, why Shane Lemieux continues to receive significantly more playing time than Will Hernandez is an eyebrow-raiser.

Meanwhile, wide receiver Dante Pettis got a good chunk of playing time in his first game with the team. Rookie safety Xavier McKinney also saw another increase to his role.

Defensive back Julian Love, however, saw far fewer snaps in Week 16 than he has in recent weeks.

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Giants-Browns Week 15: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 15 game against the Cleveland Browns. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants entered Sunday night’s game with an opportunity to regain their lead in the NFC East and significantly boost their playoff changes. Instead, they took an ugly loss against the Cleveland Browns and fell to third in the division.

The loss guaranteed the Giants their fourth straight losing season and their eighth losing season over the last nine. It’s an ugly time.

Here’s a look at the snap counts that attributed to the Giants’ ninth loss of the season:

Offensive snaps: 54
Defensive snaps: 63
Special teams snaps: 18

Something that immediately leaps out when looking at the snap counts is that the offensive line rotation seems to have subsided. In fact, Matt Peart did not receive a single snap, while only Will Hernandez and Shane Lemieux were rotated.

Also worth noting is that Alfred Morris had the team’s most offensive success despite being on the field for just 13 snaps. Fullback Eli Penny also made an impact on his lowly eight snaps.

Meanwhile, linebacker Devante Downs made his presence felt — and not in a good way — despite being on the field for just 11 plays.

Quarterback Joe Webb took just four snaps on special teams. That fell well below expectations for his use.

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Cam Fleming, Andrew Thomas were highest-graded Giants in Week 13

Tackles Cam Fleming and Andrew Thomas led the New York Giants in PFF grades in Week 13.

The New York Giants shocked the football world in Week 13, upsetting the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks, 17-12, at Lumen Field.

The victory spoke volumes about head coach Joe Judge and where the Giants are headed, especially when you consider they pulled off the upset without running back Saquon Barkley or quarterback Daniel Jones.

That meant other players had to step up, and step up they did.

With Colt McCoy under center, the Giants’ offensive line had to piece together their best performance of the season. Mission accomplished. Right tackle Cam Fleming and left tackle Andrew Thomas earned the team’s two highest grades courtesy of Pro Football Focus, checking in at 87.5 and 87.1, respectively.

For both Fleming and Thomas, the grades represent their highest of the season. And for Thomas, it was far and away the highest grade of his career.

The two tackles were followed up by running back Alfred Morris (84.2), running back Wayne Gallman (79.2) and offensive lineman Will Hernandez (72.5).

Other offensive grades of note were McCoy (57.1), center Nick Gates (62.2) and tight end Evan Engram (68.4).

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Blake Martinez led the way with a grade of 81.3. Rookie linebacker Carter Coughlin was next up with a 73.6 followed by cornerback James Bradberry (72.2) and safety Logan Ryan (71.8).

Interestingly, despite their huge games, defensive lineman Leonard Williams and safety Jabrill Peppers did not crack the 70 mark, finishing the day with grades of 68.7 and 65.7, respectively.

The lowest-graded Giants in Week 13 were running back Dion Lewis (33.3), offensive lineman Shane Lemieux (42.3) and defensive lineman Austin Johnson (44.9).

Also of note, Lewis graded out almost unrealistically poor in pass protection. He was given a 2.5 (yes, a 2.5).

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