Is ORT A Position Of Need?

[Philosophers]

What if when it is time for the Giants to draft in round 1, the clearly best player prospect is an OT.  Do the Giants draft the OT?

[TONKA56]

What if when it is time for the Giants to draft in round 1, the clearly best player prospect is an OT.  Do the Giants draft the OT?

Yes, but the Giants will continue to beat the horse that is Evan Neal for at least another season. The Giants are absolute junkies for sunk cost fallacy. The sooner they move him to right guard the better for everyone.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

What if when it is time for the Giants to draft in round 1, the clearly best player prospect is an OT.  Do the Giants draft the OT?

Here's what I'd like to see. Personally, I haven't given up hope that Neal will become a top RT in the future. But if he doesn't, I'd love to see the Giants draft Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State Beavers (6-5, 320) top percentile in strength and has a nasty streak a mile long. He's technically excellent in pass protection, but excels in run blocking and zone. He's listed as the 5th (on average) OT in the draft behind Alt, Fashanu, Latham, and Mims. He is a "pure RT" who has never played on the left side of the line...which partly explains why he is lower in the draft order, as LTs are more highly sought. It is proposed that he will go late in the first round or early in the second. He is also listed as the 14th best prospect in the draft, but will fall because of the plethora of top-notch LTs in this draft

Ideally, teams line up with trade offers for the Giants' (5th or 6th spot), we pick up a lower first round pick and a few other picks, and maybe even some team's next year's 1st 

Here's a quick summary that doesn't tell a lot:

2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Powerful and athletic lineman who excels in pass protection and run blocking. Strong body structure. Moves around well. Athletic legs. Good hand technique with explosive punch. Long arms. Handled spin and "X" stunts with ease. Battles and keeps at it. Great job of keeping his guy away from the quarterback. Needs to keep his feet sliding throughout the rep. Does a great job run blocking using his athleticism and frame. Plays until the whistle blows.

Many articles that I have read have stated that if he was moved to RG, he would be an annual Pro Bowler and an All-Pro, and some analysts believe that RG his best and natural position. Hence, should the Giants be lucky enough to get him, he could work in tandem with Neal and if Neal doesn't improve or gets injured, Fuaga simply moves into the RT position

[Philosophers]

Here's what I'd like to see. Personally, I haven't given up hope that Neal will become a top RT in the future. But if he doesn't, I'd love to see the Giants draft Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State Beavers (6-5, 320) top percentile in strength and has a nasty streak a mile long. He's technically excellent in pass protection, but excels in run blocking and zone. He's listed as the 5th (on average) OT in the draft behind Alt, Fashanu, Latham, and Mims. He is a "pure RT" who has never played on the left side of the line...which partly explains why he is lower in the draft order, as LTs are more highly sought. It is proposed that he will go late in the first round or early in the second. He is also listed as the 14th best prospect in the draft, but will fall because of the plethora of top-notch LTs in this draft

Ideally, teams line up with trade offers for the Giants' (5th or 6th spot), we pick up a lower first round pick and a few other picks, and maybe even some team's next year's 1st 

Here's a quick summary that doesn't tell a lot:

2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Powerful and athletic lineman who excels in pass protection and run blocking. Strong body structure. Moves around well. Athletic legs. Good hand technique with explosive punch. Long arms. Handled spin and "X" stunts with ease. Battles and keeps at it. Great job of keeping his guy away from the quarterback. Needs to keep his feet sliding throughout the rep. Does a great job run blocking using his athleticism and frame. Plays until the whistle blows.

Many articles that I have read have stated that if he was moved to RG, he would be an annual Pro Bowler and an All-Pro, and some analysts believe that RG his best and natural position. Hence, should the Giants be lucky enough to get him, he could work in tandem with Neal and if Neal doesn't improve or gets injured, Fuaga simply moves into the RT position

I like his size at 320 and not larger.  I think wide edges are simply too fast for most 335 pound ORTs so to be a bit leaner but strong is key.  Good suggestion Jolly.

[Jclayton92]

Swing tackle, yes, right tackle no.

[Gmo11]

Yea probably.  BUT if they can find a good OL coach (admittedly easier said than done) Neal might be serviceable. At least serviceable enough to fill a greater need than that.  It's tough to just give up on the guy after 2 miserable seasons given that Feliciano has proven that the coaching he's been getting with the Giants has been just abysmal.  It is a wonder Thomas has developed into anything in this environment. 

[DaveBrown74]

To answer your question, I think they will, yes, provided the OT is the best player on their board at that point and they have ruled out moving up for a QB. OT is a premium position, and given how bad Neal is, I think it's fair to call it an area that could be upgraded. And even if Neal magically improves and becomes a decent player, given his and Thomas' durability, having another quality tackle on the team would not exactly be a bad thing.

With that said, I hope this isn't the direction they go in. I know we need to address the situation at RT, but I'd prefer not to use yet another top 10 or top 5 pick on an OT. That would be our third in just four years. I appreciate the last one was a bust (or seems to be), but we can't just keep doing this over and over again forever. Plus there's still an outside chance Neal could become serviceable next year.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

My original post was "Plan A", which only works if we trade down. "Plan B" would be to draft (rd 5-7) a TE (Brevyn Spann-Ford from Minnesota B1G) who is not highly rated because he's primarily a blocking TE and in pass-protection, he gets PFF's highest rating (90 something...too lazy this morning to look it up). He stands at 6-7/270 and has great feet and loves to block. Put him on the side with Neal and you basically have two RT's in which Neal provides power and initial pass protection, while Spann-Ford with his superb athleticism and exceptionally long arms is the quick-footed pass protection helper. He's also decent at catching passes and yards after catch, but he just hasn't been used much in that role while at Minnesota

Just thinking out loud...glad I don't have to make the calls on draft day, LOL

[MightyGiants]

I think the team needs to target a high-end swing tackle.  Should Evan Neal fail to prove he is a starter, he could be made the swing tackle and the swing tackle would be the starter.

[nb587]

 Keep this in mind if you think drafting an OT in the 1st round fixes the problem.  I would bet, without having seen of the 1st round prospects, that none of them are graded as high as Neal was coming out of Alabama or have scouting reports as good as his.  Not saying we don't need help or should have an insurance policy but a possible solution is bringing in a Mike Remmers type or even using Pugh in his natural position as a backup next year if Neal fails again.  Hopefully, they find a top assistant OL coach.

Also, to those who keep repeating the mantra that Neal needs to be moved inside.  Is there any information that tells you he can play inside? Has he ever played inside?  Are there many good guards who are as tall as him? Does anyone know?

[TONKA56]

I think the team needs to target a high-end swing tackle.  Should Evan Neal fail to prove he is a starter, he could be made the swing tackle and the swing tackle would be the starter.

The biggest problem I see with Neal right now is that he appears to be mentally breaking down in the face of adversity, much like Flowers did before him. Getting snarky with the press is never a good sign when a player is struggling on the field.

[TONKA56]

Also, to those who keep repeating the mantra that Neal needs to be moved inside.  Is there any information that tells you he can play inside? Has he ever played inside?  Are there many good guards who are as tall as him? Does anyone know?

Nope, no guarantees at all.

[DaveBrown74]

Keep this in mind if you think drafting an OT in the 1st round fixes the problem.  I would bet, without having seen of the 1st round prospects, that none of them are graded as high as Neal was coming out of Alabama or have scouting reports as good as his.  Not saying we don't need help or should have an insurance policy but a possible solution is bringing in a Mike Remmers type or even using Pugh in his natural position as a backup next year if Neal fails again.  Hopefully, they find a top assistant OL coach.

Also, to those who keep repeating the mantra that Neal needs to be moved inside.  Is there any information that tells you he can play inside? Has he ever played inside?  Are there many good guards who are as tall as him? Does anyone know?

Flowers comes to mind. He is 6'6". Neal is 6'7" so I would call that negligible. Flowers wasn't a great guard or anything, but he was a catastrophe at OT and became serviceable when moved inside to guard.

It can't hurt to give Neal a try at guard if he can't figure OT out. Not doing that with Flowers (after suffering with him for years at OT) and then letting someone else benefit from his guard play was a mistake we probably shouldn't repeat.

Plus we're so bad at guard that even if Neal were just mediocre he might be the best guard on the team.

[TONKA56]

Flowers comes to mind. He is 6'6". Neal is 6'7" so I would call that negligible. Flowers wasn't a great guard or anything, but he was a catastrophe at OT and became serviceable when moved inside to guard.

It can't hurt to give Neal a try at guard if he can't figure OT out. Not doing that with Flowers (after suffering with him for years at OT) and then letting someone else benefit from his guard play was a mistake we probably shouldn't repeat.

Plus we're so bad at guard that even if Neal were just mediocre he might be the best guard on the team.

Putting him at guard might give him the opportunity to do what he is supposed to do well-maul people in a phone booth as opposed to asking him to maintain position in space where his lateral movement gets exposed.

[AZGiantFan]

What if when it is time for the Giants to draft in round 1, the clearly best player prospect is an OT.  Do the Giants draft the OT?

I hope not.  We've already thrown too much resources at the OL.