The New York Giants will be bringing back four-fifths of their offensive line from last season, the one exception being first-round pick Francis Mauigoa, a tackle by trade who is being converted to guard to begin his Giants career.
The lineup starts with former Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Thomas and goes across as follows: Jon Runyan Jr at left guard, John Michael Schmitz at center, Sisi at right guard, and Jermaine Eluemunor at left tackle.
Mauigoa is the new guy. Not only does he have to blend into this group, which has been playing together for three seasons now, but he also has to learn a new position on top of it.
"Before you get to the next level, you got to blend into it. You can never skip a step," Mauigoa told reporters on Wednesday after
practice.
He's not only the new guy, he's a rookie and, although he's a prized player in the building, still gets treated as such.
"Yeah, I mean, they bring hell on me," Sisi said, drawing laughs from the media. "They have me do all these jokes, bring all these snacks. But every rookie got to go through it. But it's also that team bonding, where they don't really just harass me for no reason; they'll just kind of pick me up after it, like alright, you forgot about this, so they start ordering it. Stuff like that, they're always there.
"And me, I'm the type of guy to ask a lot of questions when I don't know stuff. So, a lot of it has been helped from JMS, Jermaine, AT, and also Jon. And yeah, they welcome me in with open arms, and hopefully I can withstand the culture of the offensive linemen and improve it."
The veterans have been impressed with Sisi thus far. He has handled himself like a veteran. Plus, he's big, tough, smart, and just what this line needed on the interior. The communication has been smooth so far.
"It's been amazing. I mean, they always help me," said Mauigoa. "Whenever I missed on something, they're always there to communicate. And they're always telling me, ‘Alright, we got this block, we got that block.’ And even in the film room, we're always communicating, ‘Okay, so if you want me to jump, what type of call would we call it?’ That, everything like that, and it builds chemistry."
And chemistry is what the Giants are going for along the line. They have their five and then some. This week, the Giants dealt two veteran linemen (Daniel Faalele, Joshua Ezeudu) for draft picks. They feel they are that deep now.
Mauigoa got his first taste of how flighty NFL life can be. Here today, gone tomorrow.
"It was very surreal. I mean, I was very surprised of how business is in NFL," he said. "Just heard about it yesterday, and I was like, man, that could have been me. Could be anybody else. So, it kind of brings us to that point where you got to bring your A game every practice."
Uh, no, it couldn't have been you, Sisi. The Giants aren't about to give up on you. Just look at Ezeudu. He was in his fifth year with the team. Evan Neal, who was also a first-round pick, is still here five years later. Mauigoa is here to stay.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Francis Mauigoa blending in as the new kid on New York Giants' O-line
