The Thibodeaux were a surprise at No. 5, but the scoreboard played perfectly with all three of the top three draft offensive tackles still available, allowing the Giants to snatch Neal in the seventh pick after the Carolina Panthers took the NC State Ikem Ekwonu offensive tackle. at No. 6. Tibondo was one of the biggest names in the draft and the most talked about players. Some questioned his effort and his work ethic and concentration on his name. But the Giants did not believe this was a problem after doing extensive research on Thibodeaux, who has an electric first step. New General Manager Joe Schoen traveled to Eugene, Oregon for Thibodeaux Professionals Day a few days after the NFL Annual Meetings in Florida. The Giants also secretly received a Zoom meeting with the talented passerby during the draft week.
One of the top prospects to enter last season, Thibundo had seven layoffs despite playing with an ankle injury in 2021. The 17.8% pressure rate was the third best on FBS. New York was the only team in the NFL last season to be ranked in the top five in both blockchain winnings and pass-through wins, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Neil, 21, was the AP All-American second team last season and a semifinalist for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award. He allowed a dismissal in his youth season, which came in the national title game against the Georgia Bulldogs. Neil saw continued improvement in Alabama. His stress level dropped from 2.5% as a freshman (when he was a guard) to 1.3% last season as a left-leaning tackle. Neal also offers tremendous flexibility to the Giants, having played one season each on guard, right tackle and left tackle. This gives the Giants options with the fourth general selector for 2020 Andrew Thomas showing a significant improvement last season in the left tackle. It is possible that Neal starts his career at the Giants with the right tackle. He would give New York two potentially young tackles to protect General Daniel Jones. The Giants are the third team in the Common Draft season to pick two attacking tackles in the top 10 in three years. The Giants wanted to get an offensive tackle early in this draft to help strengthen an offensive line that had been problematic for almost a decade. They also signed Mark Glowinski as a free agent to start from the right guard and Jon Feliciano to be their center. The idea is that the renewed and upgraded offensive line will give them a chance to get a real Jones rating this season. The Giants refused to take the fifth option on Jones’s rookie contract earlier on Thursday, sources told ESPN.
