The New York Giants were happy to welcome Andrew Thomas back to the lineup in their Week 3 loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Thomas underwent surgery on his left foot last October (Lisfranc) and had
a screw removed from his surgically repaired foot in April. The Giants had a plan to slowly introduce the star left tackle back into the lineup, so Thomas played just 28 snaps on Sunday (42%).
Rookie Marcus Mbow relieved Thomas and struggled against the heavy-handed Kansas City Chief pass rush. Thomas, however, had the highest PFF grade of the Giants’ offense (low-bar), and ESPN had Thomas with a 100% pass block win rate.
The 26-year-old signed a five-year extension worth up to $117.5 million with $67 million guaranteed. Thomas, though, has struggled to stay healthy. Since the end of 2022, Andrew Thomas has missed 18 games. Seeing Thomas active has become a rarity, and his presence is desperately needed on this offense devoid of consistency.
Below are looks at Andrew Thomas from the game:
Run blocking
The Giants’ only red-zone touchdown on the season was this 13-yard scamper by Cam Skattebo (44), and I love seeing Andrew Thomas HYPED after the run. Thomas helped Jon Runyan Jr. (76) displace the 4i-shade off the split-zone with orbit motion that also removed Jayden Hicks (21) as a box defender.
Thomas also got in the way of Charles Omenihu (90) who tried to squeeze around Daniel Bellinger’s (82) cap block. Well executed with an excellent cut from Skattebo.
Thomas does a great job adjusting his path after the 4-technique went inward toward Jon Runyan Jr. Thomas showed great feet adjusting to find Drue Tranquill (23), who was originally stacked behind the technique. Thomas did an adequate job driving Tranquill outward, but interior push collapsed the 3 hole in the play-side B-Gap.
Thomas explodes, low-to-high, into contact and drove the wide defender, Charles Omenihu, off the line of scrimmage. Everything is tight; hands, elbows; his feet are driving through the deck, allowing for maximum power. This is a great sight.
PISTOL, 12 personnel run where Thomas gets Malik Herring (94) out of the way, which allowed Skattebo to find space up to the second level. He held up just long enough (with a subtle hold), to give the Giants a 7-yard gain on the ground.
I love this scoop block by Thomas, who acted as a trio with Runyan and Chris Manhertz (85) against the technique and the 4i-shade. Thomas was supposed to be the backside of this run, but Skattebo cut inside off the Bolton penetration. Bolton did an excellent job reading the play and attacking the 1 hole (A-Gap), and John Michael Schmitz (61) was slow to get to the backside of the play.
Thomas helps Manhertz on the line of scrimmage, before setting his sights on the second level defender; he also assisted with the 2-techique that was uprooted by John Michael Schmitz and Runyan Jr. Unfortunately, the backside pursuit defenders easily crashed down on Skattebo.
Wash down the line of scrimmage
The two blocks below are effectively down blocks, meaning Thomas blocks down the line of scrimmage. Down blocks are common in power and counter concepts — neither of the plays below are either concept. Still, Thomas notices the slanting defensive line and makes them pay, allowing the running backs to find cut-back lanes.
Skattebo (44) does an elite job feeling the defensive path and seeing how Thomas and Chris Manhertz took advantage. Yet the Chiefs defense still fit the run — from a positional standpoint — but not necessarily from an effective one, due to Skattebo’s elite contact balance. The rookie back bounced off Nick Bolton (32) and spun away or evaded three other Chiefs’ defenders. A wildly impressive individual effort from Cam Skattebo, but it’s pleasant to see Thomas drive the 4i-shade to the almost opposite hash.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) didn’t experience the same success as Skattebo, but Thomas still displaced his defender and drove him away from the point of attack. Thomas fired off the ball low and was churning his legs into contact. Overall, he looked explosive in the game.
It’s great to see Thomas move like this; an explosive athlete, light on his feet, who can open and close his hips with ease. He does an excellent job relieving Runyan on this scoop block against Chris Jones (95), which allowed the guard to climb up and locate the SAM (Bolton).
Pass protection
Thomas has a 4i-shade over him with a 5-technique on his outside shoulder; the presence of Leo Chenal (54) splits the two defenders, off the line of scrimmage by three yards. A lot to process, but Thomas is entrusted on an island and handles himself with confidence:
Patience is a virtue and Thomas displays that often. Thomas matches and mirrors George Karlaftis (56) through the entire play. He mimicked the talented and physical rusher with light feet, good short-area-quickness, and active hands to combat the rusher.
Thomas with the quick game 45-set where he perfectly cuts off the angle and frames Omenihu’s pass-rush. Great to see Thomas handle the initial power-move and recoil, while sitting back on his hips and reestablishing quality position.
This might be Thomas’ worst rep in pass protection. He faced a wide defender over tight end Theo Johnson (84), the defender was Felix Anudike-Uzomah (97), but Thomas also had a 4i-shade to his inside. Thomas quickly kicked out on a 45-degree angle, but Anudike-Uzomah did well to break the outside grips of Thomas, while turning the corner. Thomas is able to keep the pocket in-tact, but the pass rusher established a good position up the pass rushing arc.
This was also not the best rep for Thomas, who was pushed back into the pocket a bit. But even with the brief ice-skates, the recovery and ability to just stop it at the end should be applauded. His halting of Omenihu’s bull-rush occurred just before Jon Runyan Jr. came over to assist Thomas.
Thomas, on an island, against Omenihu, does well to just mirror and react. When you’re as agile, powerful, and angle-conscious as Andrew Thomas, that’s all you have to do sometimes.
Twists have been a problem for the Giants. Thomas and Jon Runyan Jr. handle this E/T one well.
Final thoughts
Thomas played well in his limited return to the lineup. He did not allow a pressure and kept a physical and talented pass rush at bay. Thomas’ absence for the second-half of the game put Marcus Mbow in a tough spot, where the rookie surrendered seven pressures and five quarterback hits, including a sack. We hope that Thomas will return to a full-time role. His pass and run blocking are invaluable to the offense and provides the coaching staff much needed flexibility, for they can trust Thomas to operate on an island. It was great to see 78 healthy again.
