The Giants offensive line saw major improvements against the Texans on Sunday. Patrick Omameh had a bounce-back game, and John Greco didn't miss a beat in his first start at center since Jon Halapio went on the IR.
But the biggest story coming from this line was right tackle Chad Wheeler getting the start over Ereck Flowers, who was benched by head coach Pat Shurmur. Nobody knew what to expect from the undrafted tackle out of USC, especially going up against one of the NFL's most prolific pass rushers in DE J.J. Watt.
Wheeler, though, seemed to hold his own against Watt. But was it enough to say he was an upgrade from Flowers? Here's what Shurmur had to say about his new right tackle.
"Here's what Wheeler did, he did a really good job, I thought, in the run game against a really unpredictable player," he said. "I thought he did a good job, and he finished blocks. When you watch him play, you say there's a guy who's finishing blocks and doing those things. I'm going to take responsibility for it, a couple times he got stretched out and just pure one-on-one [pass protection] against [J.J. Watt], and I can't put him in those positions as many times as I did, but he battled and in my opinion, even though he got beat on a couple of snaps, I thought he had a winning performance."
Wheeler allowed three sacks to Watt, and as Shurmur pointed out, he was in a one-on-one situation that made him a heavy underdog when that pressure came. Take a look at Watt's third sack on Eli Manning, and you'll see what I'm talking about...
JJ Watt is feasting on the Giants O Line. His 3rd sack of the day.
- Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 23, 2018
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/OEt27qCAii
You can see Watt gets a good jump off the edge, and Wheeler's feet are not quick enough to make the initial block in time. It is mainly due to these sacks allowed that Pro Football Focus gave Wheeler a 40.4 overall grade. Flowers, on the other hand, owns a 53.8 grade over his two games.
Wheeler should get some slack cut because he was going up against Watt, right? Well, he has another tough matchup this coming Sunday against Saints DE Cameron Jordan, who already has four sacks on the season.
Giants RT Chad Wheeler has now given up three sacks to J.J. Watt. If Ereck Flowers had done that everyone would (rightfully) be screaming for him to be benched. Truth is Wheeler did as good a job as could be expected on Watt in the first half. Showed a lot of potential.
- Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) September 23, 2018
Shurmur can aid Wheeler all he wants, but there will be those one-on-one situations where he will need to step up and give Manning time to work with. That is even more critical this week as the Saints and Drew Brees will surely make it a shootout with their high-octane offense.
It wasn't all bad from Wheeler, though, and that is the key. He showed potential to be a viable replacement for Flowers, and he has the chance to grow that potential in another tough matchup at MetLife Stadium.