The Giants spent the offseason remaking their offensive line, but the first real test of the Harbaugh era comes with one glaring vulnerability still sitting in the middle of it.
Jon Runyan Jr. won the left guard job and will start beside Andrew Thomas when New York hosts Dallas on Sunday night. That means he’s in place for the opener, carrying an $11.75 million cap hit and the lowest 2025 grade of any projected starter up front.
That matters because the Giants’ line is sturdy almost everywhere else. The problem is that Dallas is built to attack exactly where Runyan plays.
Runyan’s 2025 PFF numbers tell the story. He finished with a 53.0 overall grade, which ranked 67th among 81 qualified guards.
His 60.7 pass-blocking grade and 49.2 run-blocking mark also left him near the bottom of the position group. He’s in a contract year, with a $9 million base salary and just $2.5 million in dead money left if the Giants decide to move on.
He held off a roster challenge and opened the preseason at left guard, so the job is his. The question is what kind of protection New York gets from it.
The concerns don’t stop there. John Michael Schmitz is lined up next to him at center with his own issues, after posting a 60.8 overall grade that ranked 29th among 40 centers.
On the other side, rookie Francis Mauigoa arrives as the No. 10 pick and a real upgrade, coming off an 87.0 pass-blocking grade at Miami. So the Giants have one promising new piece in the interior, but two spots still carry real doubt, and Runyan is the biggest one.
Dallas, meanwhile, changed the way it attacks after trading Micah Parsons before the 2025 season. The Cowboys rebuilt their pass rush from the inside out, and their most dangerous pressure now comes over the guards.
Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark are the names to know there. Dallas also added Rashan Gary in a trade with Green Bay, bringing in a 2024 Pro Bowler who has 46.5 career sacks and 7.5 in each of the last two seasons.
That setup is bad news for New York. If Dallas wins inside, the pressure doesn’t have to loop around the edge.
It goes right through Runyan and Schmitz. Thomas is coming off a 90.3 PFF grade, fourth among tackles, and Jermaine Eluemunor gives the right side a proven veteran starter on a three-year, $39 million deal.
So the tackles look set. The opening is inside, and that’s where the Cowboys are strongest.
The burden also falls heavily on Jaxson Dart. As a rookie, he was pressured at a historic rate and took responsibility for 39.1% of his own pressures, the worst mark among 24 qualified quarterbacks with at least 125 dropbacks. He was sacked 34 times under pressure and completed fewer than half of his passes when the pocket broke down.
That makes the interior blocking in front of him especially important. Dart’s tendency to hold the ball and invite contact only gets more dangerous when pressure comes from the middle, where it collapses the pocket at his feet and takes away the step-up lane.
Harbaugh’s offense is supposed to lean on the run and keep Dart clean. Four of the five spots up front fit that plan.
Left guard does not. And in Week 1, Dallas is the exact defense that can make that weakness show up fast.
The Giants can absorb a lot on Sunday night. A guard issue against Quinnen Williams is not one of them.
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That shift has kept several key names in the mix, including Kayvon Thibodeaux and Deonte Banks, while also bringing in a few notable changes around the edges of the roster. Veteran lineman Daniel Faalele was dealt away, Najee Harris joined the backfield picture, and the bigger question now is how much this new pecking order will keep evolving once the competition really starts to sharpen. [Read more 🡒]
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Giants Just Answered A Growing Concern On Their Defensive Line
The Giants added some needed experience up front by signing veteran defensive tackle Dean Lowry, a 32-year-old who has spent time with both the Packers and Steelers. He is expected to begin on the practice squad, but the move gives New York another seasoned body in a defensive line group that has been looking for more reliable depth and a steadier presence around the younger tackles.
Lowrys appeal is as much about what he can bring off the field as what he can do on it. The Giants view him as a versatile piece who can help against the run and offer the kind of leadership that can speed up the development of younger players, and in a room that has been under scrutiny, that sort of addition can matter as the season wears on. [Read more 🡒]