Young offensive line sure learned a lot during trying season

NEW YORK — There are two types of players for whom Giants offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo says he has no use or patience.

“Rookies and kickers, they all go in the same bucket with me,” he said just before the 2020 season ended. “They’re all over there. Rookies and kickers are their own little grouping of individuals. You need them, they’re necessary, they are very important to your program, but . . . “

His point was that they can’t always be counted on. But in his half-season with the Giants, DeGuglielmo found himself hip-deep in first-year players. He was in charge of a group that was headlined by fourth overall pick Andrew Thomas and also included Shane Lemieux and UConn’s Matt Peart, who saw plenty of action.

Throw Nick Gates in that group, too. This may have been his third NFL season, but he came into 2020 having made only three starts. He had never before played center, a position at which he lined up for every single snap this season.

“Listen, those are young guys,” DeGuglielmo said. “Their clay has yet to be molded. They just got a nibble of what the NFL is.”

The Giants, though, got enough of a taste to believe that the biggest issue that has plagued them for most of the past decade is on the verge of being resolved.

The next time the Giants take the field, those rookies won’t be rookies. A year of unprecedented turbulence put them through perhaps more turmoil than any other position group in the NFL. In addition to the pandemic, which led to what seemed to be a permanent change in the lineup, did anyone else have three different position coaches in 16 games? But they emerged from it carrying the aspirations of the franchise.

“We’ve got some really nice young pieces,” general manager Dave Gettleman said this past week. “I think this offensive line can compete . . . The offensive line showed very good progress. They’re big, they’re young, they’re strong and they’re tough and smart. This O-line has a chance to be pretty damn good.”

That certainly wasn’t the sentiment when the Giants left the field after their opening night loss to the Steelers, completely overwhelmed and able to carve out only 29 rushing yards. And there were plenty of times during the year when Thomas looked completely overmatched. He was the first offensive tackle taken in the draft, but the ones who followed him — Jedrick Wills, Tristan Wirfs and his new neighbor with the Jets, Mekhi Becton — seemed much more NFL-ready than he was.

“Obviously, it didn’t start out the way I wanted it to, but being a rookie player, left tackle in the NFL, it’s a tough deal,” Thomas said. “It just took time.”

As for comparing himself to the other first-round rookies, Thomas said: “I want all those guys to be successful, but for me, I want to be the best player I can be, the best player I can be for the Giants, for my teammates, and that’s what I’m working to be. ... That means running my race, not paying attention to what’s going on in the other lanes, just focusing on what Andrew has to do, what he has to do to get better. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

By the end of the season, Thomas was playingastoutlefttackleinawinovertheCowboys.

“We lost to the Cowboys the first time, didn’t have a great game the first time we played them,” Thomas said. “I had a chip on my shoulder, I wanted to go in and have a good game. Even though it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to by making the playoffs, still wanted to go and put on a good show for the fans.”