It felt as though Russell Wilson was under constant pressure in Week 1 as the New York Giants’ offensive line struggled to protect its quarterback.
Poor offensive line play has plagued the Giants’ offense for the better part of the last decade. And somehow, things only seem to get worse.
Giants’ OL ranks No. 30 in NFL
Pro Football Focus released their official offensive line rankings following the first week of the season and, unsurprisingly, the Giants ranked near the bottom of the NFL.
The Giants have the No. 30 overall offensive line in the league, per PFF, moving down two spots after Week 1.
“The Giants are still without left tackle Andrew Thomas. James Hudson III filled in for him in Week 1 and earned a 55.0 PFF overall grade, which was the lowest mark among the team’s offensive linemen,” PFF’s Zoltán Buday wrote.
“All five Giants linemen earned PFF run-blocking grades below 60.0 in the team’s Week 1 defeat to the Commanders.”
Left guard Jon Runyan Jr. was the team’s highest-graded offensive lineman, but he only posted a 63.5 PFF overall grade.
OL was atrocious in Week 1
It’s going to be difficult for the Giants to turn their season around if they don’t see improvements from their offensive line.
In Week 1, Wilson was pressured on 19 of his 45 dropbacks. He took two sacks, six quarterback hits, and was hurried 13 times. More than 40% of his passes (40.5%) were thrown short of the sticks, and he was hit twice while releasing the football, per PFF.
On top of that, the run-blocking was atrocious, as the Giants’ running backs averaged just 0.3 yards before contact per attempt.
The Giants’ offense looked inept on Sunday. And that isn’t going to change if the offensive line keeps playing this poorly. Getting this unit on track needs to be priority No. 1 for head coach Brian Daboll.