How Giants' Andrew Thomas quickly rebounded from bust to elite left tackle

By Ralph Vacchiano
Published

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There were moments in Andrew Thomas’ rookie season when he was unrecognizable, both to those that knew him best and to himself. His basic techniques were just off. His confidence was sagging.

He looked nothing like the tackle who had been so dominant at Georgia during his three-year college career.

"I thought he was ready to jump right in and have a great rookie year," said Paul Alexander, a longtime NFL offensive line coach who started working with Thomas before the 2020 draft, in an interview with FOX Sports. "But then I saw some of the craziest techniques that I could ever imagine."

Thomas called his play as a rookie "embarrassing." Alexander called it "infuriating." The latter was particularly livid at the Giants coaches whom he thought were ruining his star pupil. And when Alexander talked to Thomas midway through that rookie season, they both agreed something had to change.

"It was just a lot my rookie year," Thomas told FOX Sports. "Just a big adjustment, just from the level of competition and just trying to figure it out and get my feet set. There was a lot of things going on that contributed to that. I definitely needed a change in technique and a change in my approach to the game."

That change, in the two years since, has been dramatic. The Giants’ 23-year-old left tackle, who once made it look like the franchise made a mistake with the fourth overall pick of the 2020 draft, has been consistently and universally ranked as one of the top offensive linemen in the NFL all season long. Even now, as the Giants prepare for a divisional playoff game against a Philadelphia Eagles defense that had 70 sacks this season, there are no worries about whether Thomas can handle the pressure.

The 6-foot-5, 315-pound anchor has become the one lineman nobody on the Giants worries about — the one they all implicitly trust.

"There’s no one playing at a higher level right now at that position in the league," Giants quarterback Daniel Jones said. "He’s an unbelievable player. If you saw how he works and how approaches every day you wouldn’t be surprised."

"My observation is this," Alexander added. "Technically, he’s the best left tackle in football."

Technically, he might be right. Pro Football Focus graded Thomas as its No. 3 tackle for the 2022 season, behind the 49ers’ Trent Williams and the Vikings’ Christian Darrisaw. He ranks third in pass blocking and eighth in run blocking, with PFF noting he’s allowed just three sacks and 21 pressures on 619 pass plays this season. He allowed just one QB hit over the first 10 games.

Also, according to PFF, Thomas hasn’t surrendered a sack in his last four starts — not since Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat beat him in Week 14. Thomas didn’t allow a single pressure in this past Sunday's wild-card win at Minnesota.

"Mark my words," Alexander said, "he’s going to get on a run where he’s going to go seasons without a sack. He will. He’s not there yet, but he will. He’s going to get there."

As a rookie, Thomas never went more than two straight games without giving up a sack, surrendering a league-high 10 that season. He gave up 57 pressures in 2020 — 14 more than any other lineman, according to PFF. He was, admittedly, a mess.

Alexander attributes much of it to the Giants' staff at the time. He had spent 24 years as an NFL offensive line coach with the Cincinnati Bengals, tutoring some great ones like Andrew Whitworth, Willie Anderson and Richmond Webb. He knew what good offensive line technique was supposed to look like.

What he saw Thomas doing wasn’t it. Nothing about Thomas’ technique was smooth. He wasn’t setting his feet right at all. And in an interview back then, Alexander said, "his hands (were) bouncing around like he’s punching a guy like a machine gun or something". He looked completely out of control.

It turned out, that’s the way then-Giants offensive line coach Marc Colombo — a long-time Bears and Cowboys line coach — was teaching him to play. The two-hand punch specifically was his preferred offensive line technique, which was a lot different than the controlled technique Thomas was taught by his college offensive line coach, Sam Pittman, at Georgia.

"I heard what Andrew was being coached to do, which is what really infuriated me," Alexander said. "Thank goodness those instructions have up and left New York."

Colombo was fired midseason after an ugly argument with then-first-year head coach Joe Judge. He was replaced by another longtime OL coach, Dave DeGuglielmo, for the final six games of that season. The next season Judge hired longtime college assistant Rob Sale to take over the Giants' line for his first NFL job. He also brought former Giants offensive line coach Pat Flaherty as a consultant.

Upon being hired last January, head coach Brian Daboll brought offensive line coach Bobby Johnson with him from Buffalo. That means Thomas has now had five OL coaches through his first three seasons, not including the two assistant offensive line coaches he's worked under in that time.

Remarkably, though, despite all the different voices, a consistency started to emerge in Thomas. He had a conversation with Alexander midway through his rookie season about getting back to the things that made him so successful at Georgia. And with coaches who were willing to let Thomas be Thomas — to be the player he was in college — little by little, everything started to click.

"I think I’m actually up a level from college," Thomas said. "I think I was just talented enough (in college) to just be better than some guys. Obviously, I worked hard, but you could just get away with your size, your athleticism at that level.

"Now I feel more of a steward of the game, just understanding that there’s people that are going to be faster and stronger than everybody is. It’s about technique, hand placement, mind games, all different types of things to be successful at this level."

One of the biggest adjustments Thomas said he made was with his feet. He was "over-setting" as a rookie. He got so concerned with the speed of NFL edge rushers that, with his confidence beginning to wane, he would snap off the line too quickly and end up too far outside. That’s what first taught him he couldn’t get by on talent alone, because defenders started to just let him go wide while beating him consistently to the inside instead.

By that point, Thomas’ technique was so off, there was no way for him to recover. He would just jab at the incoming pass-rushers with his hands, just like he was taught, and it rarely worked.

Now, he’s smoother. He hits his mark when he sets on almost every snap. His hands are much more controlled against defenders. On the rare occasions he gets beat, it’s not his technique that’s at fault anymore. His technique looks remarkably identical from play to play.

"You watch him play and his timing’s great, his use of hands is great, his footwork is great," Alexander said. "That’s in pass and run. You see him compared to other left tackles, he’s a superior run-blocker to most. And those that he’s not, he pass blocks better. It’s really good to see that he’s really a complete player right now.

"I work with different players and I tell them all to watch Andrew Thomas because he’s really a coaching clinic."

The Giants obviously agree. Many of Thomas’ teammates were furious when he was snubbed by Pro Bowl voters earlier this season. And they’re all hoping that his work ethic and ability to improve rubs off on young right tackle Evan Neal, who has struggled through his rookie season.

Mostly, though, they are thrilled that Thomas has become the player that former Giants general manager Dave Gettleman and his staff thought he’d become, when they chose him over three other tackles who went in the top 13 of the 2020 draft — Jedrick Wills (10th to Cleveland), Mekhi Becton (11th to the Jets) and Tristan Wirfs (13th to Tampa Bay).

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"I can go on and on about all the strengths," said GM Joe Schoen, who inherited Thomas and will soon have to come up with the money to keep him. "The weakness box is going to be close to empty."

"He’s obviously been one of our best players," Daboll added. "Smart, tough, dependable. Very good leader for us. And he’s had a lot of tough matchups."

And he’s been up to the challenge, every single time. He’s turned himself into the anchor left tackle the Giants had sought for more than a decade.

"It’s really exciting for me to see a guy who is so talented, gifted — which he is — play with fantastic technique," Alexander said. "Because those two things rarely converge. And in his case, it is.

"And I think he’s put his signature on his own technique. Everyone’s kind of unique. The really elite players kind of settle into techniques and find what works for them. And I think that’s where Andrew is. He looks very confident. He looks like nothing is forced. He looks smooth. He looks fluid. And you see him: He’s physical, he finishes, he’s dominating, he plays with tremendous passion and attitude. 

"It’s really something."

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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