Giants shifting around protection for Daniel Jones already is a bad look

The New York Giants are changing up their offensive line ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Washington Football Team.

It took just one week for the Giants to decide their offensive line needed a change.

Going into Thursday’s game against Washington, New York is set to promote center Billy Price to a starting role, according to Kim Jones of NFL Network.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan added that former center Nick Gates would slide over to left guard in place of Shane Lemieux, who is on injured reserve with a knee injury.

The Giants are a mess up front protecting Daniel Jones

New York traded for Price from the Bengals before the season started. He started 110 games in 2018 after he was drafted 21st overall. However, he saw his usage dip each year after, starting nine times over the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Rather than plugging Price in at guard, they’re sending Gates to make his second career start at the position after starting all of 2020 at center. It’s a gamble, one that could pay off big time or be an utter disaster. Price wasn’t exactly beloved in Cincinnati.

The injury to Lemieux essentially forced the Giants to make a change. This is more shuffling than people would have expected, especially on a short week.

The shift needs to have an immediate impact. Against the Broncos in Week 1, the Giants cleared the way for just 60 rushing yards, 27 of which belonged to the quarterback. Saquon Barkley had just 26 yards on 10 carries.

Meanwhile, Daniel Jones was sacked twice and faced pressure throughout the matchup.