Andrew Thomas is seemingly ready to work with New York Giants offensive line coach Marc Colombo in his inaugural pro season.
As of this past April, the New York Giants possess their left tackle for the future…hopefully. The organization, which has employed a struggling offensive line unit for the better part of the last half-decade, chose Georgia tackle Andrew Thomas with the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft. Thomas was arguably the most NFL-ready tackle in a draft class that encompassed a multitude of talented individuals.
The Giants also added a new boss for this specific position group in Marc Colombo, and in an interview with Madelyn Burke of Giants.com’s “Giants Huddle” podcast, Thomas provided much praise for the player-turned-coach.
“He’s a teacher,” Thomas said of Colombo. “He wants us to know everything that’s going on. We’re learning the formations, everything that’s going on, so we can understand the game on another level. I like that. It’s kind of similar to what I had at Georgia with Coach [Sam] Pittman. He wanted us to know everything that’s going on. I feel like as an offensive lineman, understanding the big picture allows us to play faster. He’s a great coach so I’m excited to be on the field with him.”
Colombo was additionally a first-round pick, with his draft day occurring back in April 2002. The Bears acquired him with the No. 29 overall selection that year. Colombo performed in Chicago from 2002-05 before spending time in both Dallas (2005-10) and Miami (2011). He then served as the Cowboys offensive line coach from 2018-19 alongside then-Dallas head coach and current Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
The big debate is how long it will take for Thomas to end up on Daniel Jones’ blindside, as New York will certainly be reluctant to start him at left tackle right away. Simply speaking, it’s too significant of a responsibility for a rookie, especially one that didn’t experience an in-person rookie camp, minicamp, or OTAs this offseason.
With that said, the Giants will likely start him out at the right tackle position while veteran Nate Solder mans the left side. There’s a good chance Solder will struggle (considering he did for much of the last two seasons), but it’s a risk the organization must take to begin the 2020 campaign.
