Better or Worse

[Gmo11]

They could have taken Ekwonu 5th overall but they prioritized Thibodeaux. There was an active debate as to who was better between Neal and Ekwonu. So far Ekwonu has been the materially better player (mainly due to Neal being so awful).

But even despite the Neal conundrum, Schoen has done a very poor job overall dealing with the O line mess since taking over prior to this offseason. Every free agent he has brought in has been brutal and every draft pick, so far at least, has either looked awful, gotten hurt quickly, or both. The O line coach left a lot to be desired until this offseason as well, and while that may have been Daboll's hire, Daboll is Schoen's hire so ultimately Schoen is responsible.

By the way, I've been a pretty steady Schoen supporter and still am, but I'm not going to gloss over areas where I don't think he has done a good job to this point. Let's hope the decisions made in this most recent offseason lead to better O line play in 2024 and beyond.

But that's the thing. He played it exactly right because he wanted an OL and Thibs. I imagine their grades on both OL were basically the same. But Thibs was the best pass rusher they were going to find. So he got both. Nobody not a single solitary soul questioned that pick on draft day because it made all the sense in the world. We were told Neal was the most pro ready OL in the draft. He clearly was and is not but at the time the pick was a no brainer. And if it goes the other way and suddenly the Giants have bookend tackles for the next decade that makes the whole thing look a lot better.

[DaveBrown74]

But that's the thing. He played it exactly right because he wanted an OL and Thibs. I imagine their grades on both OL were basically the same. But Thibs was the best pass rusher they were going to find. So he got both. Nobody not a single solitary soul questioned that pick on draft day because it made all the sense in the world. We were told Neal was the most pro ready OL in the draft. He clearly was and is not but at the time the pick was a no brainer. And if it goes the other way and suddenly the Giants have bookend tackles for the next decade that makes the whole thing look a lot better.

We were told that, yes, by pundits and draftnik types. None of us actually scouted the guy. And by scouting I mean actually going to visits, workouts, interviews, watching Alabama games standing on the sideline, reviewing high school tape, talking to his coaches, talking to opposing coaches, etc. We didn't do the work. The Giants did. The Giants decided they wanted to prioritize Thibodeaux over having the first O line pick in that draft. Would they have taken Ekwonu over Neal? We'll never know that. But their course of action is still their responsibility.

Also what about all his other O line decisions? Why does it just come down to Neal? He could have still done a lot better with the O line than he has, even with the bust Neal pick.