Giants to Start Former 1st-Round Pick After Shane Lemieux Lands on I.R.

The New York Giants‘ offensive line will look a little different in their Week 2 contest against the Washington Football Team on Thursday night.

With Shane Lemieux (torn patellar tendon) landing on injured reserve this afternoon, the Giants are sliding Nick Gates over to the left guard position to replace him, and will start Billy Price at center, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

Although Lemieux attempted to play through this significant knee injury without undergoing surgery, he was only able to make it through the first half of the Giants’ regular season opener last week. Unfortunately, the remainder of the 2020 fifth-round draft pick’s second-year campaign looks to be in doubt at this point.

As for Price, the Giants acquired him from the Cincinnati Bengals on August 30 in exchange for defensive lineman B.J. Hill and a 2022 conditional seventh-round draft pick.

Price was a former first-round pick of the Bengals out of Ohio State University in 2018. He has appeared in 42 games with 19 starts across his first three NFL seasons.

He now gets the first crack at solidifying a starting spot on the Giants’ offensive line, with Gates sliding over to guard to replace Lemieux.

Another OL Move

Earlier this morning, the Giants also signed center/guard Matt Skura, who was on their practice squad, to their active roster, which was confirmed by his agent David Canter.

Before the Giants picked up Skura ahead of the regular season, he was cut by the Miami Dolphins at the conclusion of training camp.

Regardless, Skura has a solid résumé in his NFL career, spending the last four years as a starter on the Baltimore Ravens‘ offensive line.

Skura was initially signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent back in 2016, and spent his rookie season on the practice squad. In his second year, Skura stepped in as a starter at right guard for 12 games after Marshall Yanda went down with a season-ending injury.

From there, Skura became the starting center of the Ravens for the rest of his time in Baltimore from 2018-20. And Skura was an above average player until a knee injury knocked him out of the 2019 season in Week 12.

Skura came back to start 12 games for the Ravens last season, but it was clear that he lost a step. Now, he has a prime opportunity to potentially step in and show he is still a capable player on the Giants’ weak offensive line.

Skura’s prior experience at center and guard also increases his value, as it gives the Giants some added wiggle room should Price struggle in his first start.

Now or Never

With the Giants staring down the barrel of another 0-2 start for the fifth straight season, it’s now or never for them in Week 2 against their NFC East rivals in the Washington Football Team.

The Giants have won five straight games against Washington dating back to Week 17 of 2017. And quarterback Daniel Jones is 4-0 with eight touchdown passes and an 100.0 passer rating in his career versus Washington.

After an embarrassing 27-13 Week 1 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Giants have a shot to get their season back on track against Washington on Thursday. If not, it could lead them down a disastrous path.

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