Giants offensive line coach Rob Sale sold on Andrew Thomas

Rob Sale wasn’t quite sure what to make of Andrew Thomas when they first met during the offseason. He’d seen Thomas’ tape from his time in college (impressive!) and his first season in the NFL (not so much!), which created a bit of a paradox in itself. But he also had some trouble getting a read on him as a person.

Thomas, the quiet introvert. Thomas, the kid who grudgingly chose football over marching band in high school. Thomas, the 22-year-old with a personality that is as steady as it is subdued.

This was the player the Giants wanted Sale to help turn from a disappointing rookie into an ascending professional?

"I was trying to figure him out when I got here because he is so even-keeled," said Sale, the Giants' offensive line coach.

Ultimately, he did. And he likes what he found.

"You give me five or six guys like that and let’s go to war," Sale said with the hawkish aggression only an offensive line can muster.

The problem is that the Giants don’t have five or six guys like that. It’s why the offensive line has been such a pothole for an offense that does not have the agility to sidestep those issues. It’s why this four-win season with two games remaining has been such a failure.

But they do have one Andrew Thomas. And in a year with very few bright spots or reasons for optimism moving forward, the development of the left tackle has stood out as perhaps the only one.

According to Pro Football Focus, Thomas has allowed only one sack in his last 462 pass-blocking snaps. Last year the same analytic outlet charged him with 57 pressures at left tackle, 14 more than any other player at the position, and a league-high 10 sacks allowed.

"Andrew’s in a different place than he was last year," senior offensive assistant and play-caller Freddie Kitchens said. "Everybody’s either evolving or going backward, and it’s good to see that Andrew is evolving on the positive trend."

This week’s game certainly should illustrate just how far he has come.

A year ago, the Giants played the Bears at Soldier Field in Week 2. It was Thomas’ second game in the NFL and he had to face some of the best edge rushers he’d ever seen in Robert Quinn and Khalil Mack. He gave up a sack to Quinn and allowed a number of pressures, and the Giants’ running game struggled to mount any kind of push (it also was the game in which Saquon Barkley tore his ACL).

"I remember that game," Thomas said. "It was my first time seeing some of the top rushers in the league and introducing me to what it’s going to be like week-in and week-out . . . That was only my second game playing as a rookie, but I definitely learned a lot from it."

On Sunday he’ll be back at Soldier Field as a very different player. And while he won’t be facing Mack, who is on injured reserve after foot surgery, he will have to lock horns with Quinn, who is second in the NFL with 17 sacks.

"I’m just looking to continue to play as good as I can for my team and come out with a win," Thomas said.

The Giants weren’t happy when Thomas struggled last year, particularly early on, but they were patient. They selected him fourth overall in the draft as the top lineman off the board, and at times he clearly was at the bottom of a group that most considered the best four offensive line prospects in the class: Thomas, Tristan Wirfs, Mekhi Becton and Jedrick Wills.

This year he clearly is among the top two. Wirfs is a Pro Bowler, but he made that honor roll playing right tackle for the Buccaneers. Thomas has emerged as the best left tackle in his draft. It's an early projection but an astonishing one, considering from how far back he started.

"I think that’s part of growing," Kitchens said. "That’s part of being a rookie and that’s part of all those things he went through last year that have helped him this year. You can’t have one without the other sometimes."

Thomas even could become the highlight of Dave Gettleman’s first-round drafting legacy with the Giants. Barkley may have been named offensive rookie of the year in 2018, Daniel Jones may have usurped Eli Manning's job as the starting quarterback in 2019, but years from now, Thomas could wind up being the pick the Giants remain grateful to Gettleman for making.

Sale broke down the adjustments made in Thomas’ technique that have allowed him to make that jump.

"He’s sliding his feet, sinking his butt and punching on the move," Sale said. "Playing in balance. At times he wants to throw his butt behind and reach instead of punching and sliding. But that’s what the elite ones can do; they can still slide their feet, sink their hips and punch and continue to make that movement at the same time versus panicking and throwing his [butt] out there. I think that’s where he’s been his best and had consistency in his pass protection."

Sale also noted that Thomas has been able to fight through some of the injuries he’s dealt with this season, including foot and ankle issues that put him on injured reserve for three weeks.

"He started pretty hot," Sale said. "He was blocking everybody and had good balance and body control. He was out a few games, but now he’s starting to get back to his stride. He’s starting to get back healthy these last couple of games and he’s played well."

What makes Thomas so promising and such a beacon of positivity in a year of dense fog is his consistency.

That’s what Sale discovered once he got to know the quiet kid upon whom the franchise had made an incredible and, at the time, seemingly unwise investment.

"I don’t care if some guys speak more than others or have better leadership skills than others," Sale said. "I know what I’m going to get every single day with Andrew Thomas. And I am perfectly fine with that."

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.