Giants 2025 Make or Break: Does Evan Neal have a future at guard?

NFL training camp starts this month, which means players around the league are getting their last bits of offseason work in before the real work of trying to make the roster begins.

For certain players, this season is what some may call "Make or Break," meaning they need to put together a productive year or they could be looking for employment elsewhere at the end of the campaign.

We'll highlight some of those players for theGiants, continuing today with offensive lineman Evan Neal.

2024 Stats

Seven games started
Two sacks allowed
Six penalties

Why Make or Break?

Many Giants fans believe the team should've already given up on Neal following three disappointing seasons at right tackle. As the seventh overall pick in 2022, hopes were high that Neal and Andrew Thomas would provide New York with a couple of young bookends for the next decade. After being inconsistent as a rookie, Neal failed to show any improvement in 2023 and then lost his starting job in 2024.

Neal's main issue has been in pass protection, where he's given up high rates of pressure throughout his career, while being prone to occasional lapses that see him blowing assignments or dominated by his man. The failure to progress in this area hasn't been helped by his inability to stay healthy due to knee and ankle injuries.

The Giants brought in plenty of competition on the offensive line in the offseason and announced that Neal is moving to guard. Is this a last resort attempt to get something out of a disappointing high draft pick, or does New York really believe he could have a future there?

Jan 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants offensive tackle Evan Neal (73) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports / (C) Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

What will break it?

Simply put, if Neal continues to have lapses in focus, technique, and effort as he has over the first three years of his career, then he's not going to crack the rotation this season and could even find himself released or traded during final cuts.

Remaining healthy would be a good start -- if he gets hurt again that will slow his progress. In that situation, the team is unlikely to have the patience to let him work through any prolonged difficulties in adjusting to the move inside.

What will make it?

Neal has never played any regular season or preseason snaps at guard at the NFL level. However, when he was a draft prospect, some experts initially felt he could be a better fit inside.

While that discussion dropped off when he put together such a good Combine workout, Neal did start for one season at left guard while at Alabama, so it wouldn't be out of the question that he could adjust well to it. That was back in 2019, though.

Another reason why this could work is that despite continuing to struggle as a pass protector once he was called upon to start games last year, Neal actually showed some viable progress as a run blocker.

Pro Football Focus gave Neal a run blocking grade of over 80, which was the highest on the team and much better than his first two seasons.

If moving him inside exposes him to fewer mismatches in pass protection, then perhaps he has a chance to be a consistent contributor at the guard position. He wouldn't be the first highly drafted tackle to make such a transition after initial struggles.

Having seen his progress disrupted by injuries in the past few seasons, Neal may be relying on injuries to get his shot in 2025, as Jon Runyan Jr. and Greg Van Roten will be penciled in as starters ahead of him. If Neal shows progress at the position, he'll be looking to beat out the likes of Aaron Stinnie and Jake Kubas to be the first man off the bench.