Giants' new and improved O-line ready for the task of blitz-happy Vikings
Giants guard Jermaine Eluemunor during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 4. Credit: Ed Murray
Jermaine Eluemunor knows what to expect Sunday from the Minnesota defense: Pressure, pressure and more pressure.
Or, as Eluemunor said of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, “[He] will bring the house.”
Flores is in his second season in Minnesota. When the Giants hired coach Brian Daboll in 2022, Flores also was a candidate.
Now, Flores’ reputation as an aggressive play-caller presumably will be on display Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in the season opener. And the Giants are counting on their revamped offensive line to hold up.
Eluemunor is one of three new faces on the line, joining Jon Runyan Jr. and Long Island’s Greg Van Roten.
It is Carmen Bricillo, also in his first year with the Giants, who coaches the unit. For much of training camp, the group was patchwork. Ahead of Week 1, every starter on the line is ready to play.
Can they handle the Vikings' heat?
“I would say that’s probably one of the keys to the game,” Eluemunor said. “I’ve played against Brian Flores multiple times and one thing you can expect is pressure and a lot of blitzing. A lot of movement. We have to pick up all of that and give Daniel [Jones] the time he needs to get the ball out to the receivers.”
That, of course, could be the game within the game.
The Giants' offensive line has been a sore spot for years, of course. They gave up an NFL-worst 85 sacks a year ago. They were signing linemen late in the season.
Not all of those sacks were the line’s fault. Still, 85 sacks is a soul-crushing bushel.
When Van Roten, 34, joined the Giants on July 31, the line became whole. He has started 71 games in his career, including 17 in 2023, in what might have been his best season for the Raiders. Bricillo was the O-line coach in Las Vegas last season.
With the line of Andrew Thomas, Runyan Jr., second-year center John Michael Schmitz, Van Roten and Eluemunor, the Giants might have a chance. Van Roten and Eluemunor are particularly familiar with each other, having played side by side in Las Vegas last season.
Which could mean Jones has time to find his targets, including rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.
And if that happens, almost certainly that would mean that the offensive line had a good day.
Imagine that.
For Van Roten, coming home to the Giants was a bonus.
“I think we just have a lot of experience up front, and now we’re trying to come together as a group,” he said. “Obviously, Jermaine and I were together last year. Runyan’s new, we’re getting used to John Michael. AT’s AT. The five of us kind of coming together. You do take it personally. It’s your job. You want to do well for yourself and the guys next to you.”
To Schmitz, who battled injury during camp, being ready to start the season was important.
For Thomas, the left tackle, there is excitement.
“It's a new team,” he said. “Obviously, it’s the first game of the year, so we're trying to make a statement, come out and get a win.”
There is a lot of “new” for these Giants.
“We have a lot of veteran guys that played a lot of ball in this league, so it's not hard," Thomas said. "We're on the same page.”
Asked about coach Brian Daboll now being the offensive play-caller, Thomas seemed unfazed.
“It's not different," Thomas said. "It's the same scheme.”
Even with Daboll making the calls?
“We have a saying, ‘He calls it, we haul it,’ " Thomas said. "Whatever's going on, we try to execute that play.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
