Sometimes, it is impossible to understand how much a player means to a team until that player is no longer there. That has been the case for the New York Giants and star left tackle Andrew Thomas in recent seasons.
Thomas is a rare, precious commodity in the NFL. He is a set-it-and-forget-it left tackle who can be left alone on an island to handle the best pass rushers in the game.
Thomas checks in at No. 2 on our list of ‘most important Giants of 2026’. Argue about the placement on our list of Thomas, Brian Burns, and Malik Nabers if you must. They are 2-4 no matter what order you put them in.
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Thomas was a second-team All-Pro in 2022. That year, Thomas allowed just four sacks and 23 pressures in 16 games. Pro Football Focus graded him as the league’s third-best offensive tackle. Pro Football and Sports Network ranked him No. 7.
In 2025, Thomas was even better. In 13 games, he allowed one sack and 13 pressures. He matched his elite 2022 PFF grade of 90.3, and his pass-blocking efficiency score of 98.3 was a career-best. PFSN gave him a career-best 88.6 Impact Score. Both PFF and PFSN ranked Thomas as the No. 5 offensive tackle in the league.
The problem, of course, is what happened between 2022 and those final 13 games of last season.
Thomas has played in just 29 of the Giants’ 51 regular-season games over the past three seasons. He had hamstring and knee injuries in 2023 that limited him to 10 games. A Lisfranc injury cost him 11 games in 2024, and a difficult rehab kept him off the field until Week 3 last season. He missed the final two games with a hamstring injury.
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The Giants are 5-17 (.227) in the games without Thomas, including a pair of meaningless (except for draft position) victories in the final two games of last season. They are only 8-21 (.276) with Thomas.
Still, with Thomas, the Giants fielded a league-average offensive line the last two seasons. Without him, less than that. Especially in 2024.
In 2023, the Giants used Josh Ezeudu and Justin Pugh in place of Thomas. In 2024, it was Ezeudu, Chris Hubbard, and eventually Jermaine Eluemunor. Last year, James Hudson and Marcus Mbow.
Thomas is a terrific player and respected veteran who does things right. He will deal with maintenance for his foot for the remainder of his career, and he also worked through a lingering shoulder injury this spring.
If the Giants are going to be as good as they can be in 2026, Thomas needs to be on the field.
