New York Giants center Jon Halapio is ready to get back to work on the Big Blue offensive line after last season’s ankle fracture.
One of the overlooked position battles for the New York Giants leading up to the regular season will be at the center position. The Giants resigned both of their centers this offseason, Jon Halapio and Spencer Pulley, and both have experience at the position.
Halapio won the starting job at center before landing himself on the season-ending injured reserve list with a fractured ankle suffered in week two. Pulley then started nine games for the Giants at the position.
Despite the injury, Halapio is ready to get back to work for Big Blue and redeem himself in 2019.
“It was hard,” Halapio said last week, per Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “I had my days where I would have a ‘why me’ type of feeling. [But] I never really lost confidence because I knew what I was capable of and what I bring to the table.”
If Halapio wins the starting job, he’ll have a revamped offensive line alongside him. Nate Solder and Will Hernandez will return, but there’s a chance the entire right side of the line could be different from 2018.
Kevin Zeitler will start at right guard for the Giants, with the possibility of free agent acquisition Mike Remmers starting at right tackle. The latter position is another that’ll have some competition, with Chad Wheeler competing for the job as well.
As far as Hernandez’s improvement from his rookie season, Halapio is impressed and excited for the young guard.
“[Hernandez] is light years ahead from when he first started out,” Halapio said. “Two things that stick out to me are his awareness and his maturity. Having two solid guards like that, big bodied guys in there. The awareness and maturity that they have, and the wisdom, especially with Kevin, it helps a lot for me.”
Halapio took a majority of the first-team reps during OTAs and minicamp for Big Blue. Veterans don’t report to training camp until July 24. Until then and through training camp, Halapio will prepare to win the job and get back into the starting lineup.
