{"id":82493,"date":"2020-10-06T02:13:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T23:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/andrew-thomas-curse-is-behind-his-concerning-giants-start\/"},"modified":"2020-10-06T02:13:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T23:13:09","slug":"andrew-thomas-curse-is-behind-his-concerning-giants-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/andrew-thomas-curse-is-behind-his-concerning-giants-start\/","title":{"rendered":"#Andrew Thomas ‘curse’ is behind his concerning Giants start"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Andrew Thomas ‘curse’ is behind his concerning Giants start<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Andrew Thomas was drafted first but is performing worst.<\/p>\n

Scouts, executives and analysts couldn\u2019t reach a consensus when ranking the four premier offensive tackles in the 2020 NFL Draft class. Against that risky backdrop, the Giants made Thomas the first off the board, leaving Jedrick Wills for the Browns, Mekhi Becton for the Jets and Tristan Wirfs for the Buccaneers within the top 15 picks.<\/p>\n

Early returns are cause for concern.<\/p>\n

Thomas allowed six pressures \u2014 second-most among all NFL offensive linemen in Week 4 \u2014 and two sacks Sunday against the Rams, according to Pro Football Focus. With five sacks allowed, he is graded No. 66 among 72 tackles, while Wirfs (No. 24), Becton (No. 26) and Wills (No. 46) are faring better.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously he\u2019s a guy who has a tremendous amount of potential, and that\u2019s why we brought him in here,\u201d coach Joe Judge said. \u201cHe\u2019s been baptized by fire this first part of the season. He\u2019s seen a lot of elite edge-rushers. He\u2019s seen a lot of multiples come at him. They\u2019re trying to attack him as a rookie and see what he can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnique\u201d is a buzz word frequently thrown around by the Giants to explain offensive line struggles. More to the point with the 6-foot-5, 315-pound Thomas?<\/p>\n

\u201cHis biggest flaw is he doesn\u2019t play with his feet in the ground,\u201d NFL Network film analyst Brian Baldinger told The Post. \u201cHe\u2019s always hopping, and he\u2019s always on one foot. It\u2019s the same way he played [in college] at Georgia. So it doesn\u2019t matter how big he is or how athletic. It\u2019s actually a curse because he constantly is off-balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Giants pre-planned to insert rookie third-round pick Matt Peart at right tackle for a series<\/a> against the Rams. That required taking their highest-graded offensive lineman through four game<\/a>s (Cam Fleming) off the field.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew
Andrew Thomas<\/span>Charles Wenzelberg\/New York Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t pull Cam Fleming,\u201d Judge said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t take him out for something that happ<\/a>ened within the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

If it was a performance-based benching, it would be difficult to justify pulling Fleming instead of Thomas. Except for the bad optics associated with benching the No. 4-overall pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t care less how you got here,\u201d Judge said. \u201cI don\u2019t care if you\u2019re a first-round pick or if you just walked in off the street yesterday. I\u2019m never going to make a decision based on optics. Matt\u2019s worked a lot on the right side in practice, so that\u2019s just simply where we put him.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Nate Solder had not opted out of the season due to COVID-19, Thomas would be starting at right tackle, Fleming would be on the bench and Peart would be buried. The Giants want to continue sprinkling in Peart as a way of development, which could put Thomas in the crosshairs as the odd man out for short spurts if he doesn\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one place you can\u2019t get beat is inside,\u201d Baldinger said. \u201cHe is oversetting, so he is trying to compensate. You want to keep your feet in the ground and slide in front of your man. If you drop a big step and open the gate, you can\u2019t stop the inside charge.\u201d<\/p>\n