Line play is the highlight of Giants’ first padded practice

Pads bring out the physicality

The New York Giants practiced with pads on Monday for the first time in 2025 on a blistering hot day in East Rutherford, New Jersey. With the level of physicality dialed up, the Giants focused on running the football during team period — much to the delight of the offensive line.

Right tackle Jermaine Eleumunor spoke to the media after practice and reinforced the importance of playing with pads on. He also discussed Evan Neal, and the former first-round pick’s journey to tackle.

Eleumunor said Neal had a few “DAMN!” combo blocks in practice; here’s one at the where the offense prevented the defense from picking up a first down on three plays to conclude practice:

Eluemunor mentioned Neal’s conscientious nature in his transition to guard and how Neal’s potential remains high due to his physical attributes.

I mention Neal, specifically, because the idea of Neal starting on the offensive line is not far-fetched. He earned first-team reps at right guard, as did Greg Van Roten. Neal is entering a contract year and is just 24 years old. If he can smooth out his pass protection and understand his role inside, he could earn a starting role, probably at right guard.

There’s upside to Neal starting, but he’ll have to take the job from Van Roten, who is 35. Eluemunor is correct about Neal’s palpable power; the man moves bodies in the run game, but there’s more to playing football than brute force.

Practice notes

It wasn’t the most eventful practice for the first padded period of the season. The Giants mostly focused on running the football and hitting up front. They did one-on-one offensive/defensive line drills on the far-end of the field, away from the media. I’ll include my notes with that below.

Brian Daboll lost his cool on the offense after the unit had three false start penalties. The offense operated mostly backed up on their side of the field. There weren’t red zone drills for the offense, it was mostly conservative play-calling to gradually ramp-up the physicality.

The first team offensive line was mostly Jermaine Eluemunor, Greg Van Roten, John Michael Schmitz, Jon Runyan Jr., and James Hudson III, with Neal earning reps at right guard.

The Giants ran a lot of play-action passes and slip-screens throughout practice. Focus on getting the running backs in space, where Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Cam Skattebo both had several plays that elicited cheers from the crowd. Here’s one play where John Michael Schmitz got the best of Bobby Okereke in space:

Skattebo had two runs that resulted in cheers, one with an excellent cut-back off quality blocking up front with the first team offense and defense. Zach Pascal had a tough catch over the middle of the field:

Cornerback Art Green secured a one-handed interception against Jamies Winston:

Rookie UDFA Dalen Cambre earned some first-team reps with Wan’Dale Robison inactive for practice. The reps were in an install period, but still noteworthy. Jalen Hyatt was running individual period and positional drills but was not running team-drills. There were snaps with Brian Burns as linebacker, similar to how the Giants have used Abdul Carter.

Speaking of Carter — wow! The energy and conversations surrounding this guy are positive. He’s different and seems inevitable. The veteran players on the team notice. As Brian Burns said after practice — I don’t need to speak too much about him; you’ll see what he can do. Burns also said, in reference to Carter: Jit at DAWG! I had to look Jit up on google and now I feel old, but Burns’ point stands.

OL vs. DL

The Giants offensive line was solid up front against the Giants’ defensive line in team period. Now, to be fair, the Giants defenders can not tackle or hit too hard. They square up and thump, but — as Burns stated after practice — it’s not real tackling.

For that, the offense has a slight advantage in team drills but the defense has a massive advantage in one-on-ones. Here are some notes about the one-on-one period:

• Carter quickly separated from Stone Forsythe with an inside spin move
• Kayvon Thibodeaux beat James Hudson twice … one time was quickly with an inside move
• On their third rep, Thibodeaux contacted Hudson’s facemask and Hudson snatched him to the ground; this caused tempers to flare and the period was ended with the coaches addresssing the two units
• The third rep was Hudson at right tackle, not left tackle
• Brian Burns quickly beat Eluemunor around the edge with a speed win
• Jon Runyan Jr. had an excellent rep against Elijah Chatman where he stayed square and mirrored the quick rusher’s movements
• Rookie on rookie action: Marcus Mbow matched Darius Alexander in the drills for a smooth win
• John Michael Schmitz got the best of Elijah Garcia in a rep

The burst possessed by Abdul Carter is rare. Eluemunor praised Carter’s first-step after practice and discussed how valuable it is to earn reps against players like Carter, Burns, and Thibodeaux. It’s an iron-sharpens-iron situation.

After practice, Burns talked about how a light was switched on for Thibodeaux last season with the assistance of Charlie Bullen, the Giants’ outside linebacker coach. Burns said he expects big things from Thibodeaux this season, and knows that players will have the opportunity to win their one-on-one matchups.

The Giants’ offensive and defensive line are playing with an edge. There’s tenacity on the field, and it’s embodied by Hudson, who is the chippiest player in camp so far. It started in minicamp with Brian Burns and carried into today with Kayvon Thibodeaux. The first-team defense will be seeing more of James Hudson III with Andrew Thomas slowly being brought back to health.