The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was introduced nearly 125 years ago \u2014 just before the Giants started searching for their own perfectly complementary combination to put at offensive tackle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
OK, that\u2019s an exaggeration, but it certainly has been a long time (14 years?) since the bookends of the offensive line were as big of a combined strength for the Giants as is the case right now with left tackle Andrew Thomas and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor protecting rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone knows who A.T. is,\u201d Eluemunor said. \u201cI want to be the same status as A.T. \u2014 supposed to be in the Pro Bowl and All-Pro because that\u2019s what I\u2019m capable of. If we do that, Dart will have all the time in the world to stand back there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas arguably has been the best offensive lineman (regardless of position) in the NFL since making his season debut in Week 3. He has the highest pass-block win rate (96 percent) among all tackles, per ESPN, and zero sacks allowed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some things that I want to tighten up, especially in the run game, and I think that just takes time,\u201d the modest Thomas said. \u201cI\u2019m getting the continuity back in my body, too \u2014 just getting adjusted to playing this much and missing training camp.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (78) speaks to head coach Brian Daboll during practice at the Quest Diagnostics center, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
The Giants don\u2019t need to look past last week against the Broncos \u2014 when then-NFL sacks leader Nik Bonitto was quieted by Thomas and Eluemunor no matter whom he tried \u2014 to see what they have in the fold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Together, they have allowed two sacks, two quarterback hits and seven hurries, per Pro Football Focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJermaine and A.T. are playing really good ball right now,\u201d offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Giants don\u2019t have to look past Sunday against the Eagles \u2014 who have paired right tackle Lane Johnson and left tackle Jordan Mailata since 2020 to create the NFL\u2019s gold standard \u2014 to see why beginning extension talks with the pending free agent Eluemunor should be a priority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust being around guys throughout my career, when you start to think about that, it kind of knocks you off track,\u201d Eluemunor said. \u201cThis is one of the first years I\u2019m focused on what\u2019s ahead of me. If it comes up, it comes up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas, a 2022 Second-Team All-Pro, has started opposite six right tackles \u2014 Cam Fleming, Nate Solder, Matt Peart, Evan Neal, Tyre Phillips and Eluemunor \u2014 during his 66 career games. Eluemunor has closed the revolving door in the way that the former first-round pick Neal never could.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Giants offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor during practice at the New York Giants training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
Eluemunor set three preseason goals: Play 1,000 snaps for the first time in his career, start all 17 games and become the NFL\u2019s best right tackle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been my motivation since I got into the league to be the best player at my position,\u201d Eluemunor said. \u201cI feel like if you are not striving for that, what are you really striving for? I don\u2019t go out there just to cash a check. I go out there to truly dominate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thomas, 26, is signed through 2029. Eluemunor, 29, came to the Giants in 2024 along with offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo on a two-year, $14 million contract that looks like a bargain compared to swing tackle James Hudson (two years, $12 million).\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cJermaine is a great player,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe\u2019re always having conversations about techniques. Certain players do different things, and as offensive linemen we have different strengths and weaknesses, so we bounce ideas off each other \u2013 things with the cadence, just trying to get an advantage any time we can. When you play well up front, you give your team a chance to win. And we want to do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The last great Giants offensive line had continuity with left tackle David Diehl and right tackle Kareem McKenzie for two Super Bowl runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York Giants guard Jermaine Eluemunor #72, speaking to the media after practice at the Giants Training Facility in East Rutherford, NJ. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always cool to have a partner who you know is going to hold down their side,\u201d Eluemunor said, \u201cand if you hold off your side, you are going to feed off each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In some ways, the Giants lucked into this combination.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eluemunor was signed to play guard, moved to right tackle when Neal was hurt and to left tackle when Thomas was hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told Dabes in the offseason, \u2018Let me play just one position and see what I\u2019m capable of instead of me having to worry about every single position on the offensive line,\u2019\u201d Eluemunor said. \u201cYears prior, that kept me in the league because I could do everything. Mentally, I\u2019m finally there. Physically, I\u2019m finally there. This is the first year where my weight hasn\u2019t been an issue. My nutrition is where it needs to be. Everything is how it needs to be, so I\u2019m able to play free.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New Jersey is home to Eluemunor\u2019s parents and high school memories. It makes sense to put roots here, but his play is driving up his market beyond the series of short-term contracts he has had since his first time getting cut in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be nice to finally call some place home,\u201d Eluemunor said. \u201cBut I just want to be the best player for those next 10 games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was introduced nearly 125 years ago \u2014 just before the Giants started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[26705,977,349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-250753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-andrew-thomas","9":"tag-new-york-giants","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}