New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen might be known these days as the man who let star running back Saquon Barkley walk out the door, but he didn’t exactly sit on his hands this past offseason.
Schoen directed his attention to filling the holes on his roster by signing two veteran offensive linemen (Jon Runyan Jr., Jermaine Eluemunor) and a familiar face (Devin ‘Motor’ Singletary) at running back to help backfill the loss of Barkley via free agency.
Speaking on the visiting set of Good Morning Football on the NFL Network on Wednesday, Schoen stressed the positive effects the three veterans have had thus far.
“Motor we had familiarity with from Buffalo, Eluemunor and Runyan, they’ve performed very well,” Schoen told hosts Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt.
“All three of those guys, what we expected to get in terms of production and the way they look on the grass has been really good. Not only that but from a culture standpoint, who they are as people and what they bring to the table as veteran players with leadership as we’re trying to turn this around. They’ve been phenomenal.”
Runyan appears to be a flexible option on the interior as he has lined up at both guard positions this summer. Eluemunor, signed as a guard, is filling in more than admirably at right tackle in place of the injured Evan Neal.
Meanwhile, Singletary — wearing Barkley’s former No. 26 jersey — has shown that he can carry the load out of the backfield although the Giants plan on splitting the reps between him, rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Eric Gray.
Schoen is entering Year 3 of his tenure with the Giants. He and head coach Brian Daboll are both going to be held to higher standards this season by the team’s ownership.
“I expect us to take a big step forward,” co-owner John Mara said last week. “It’s hard to articulate my expectations. I obviously want to show significant improvement over last year. But I’m not going to make any specific guarantees or demands or anything like that. But they know what I want to see.”
Mara reiterated his faith in Schoen and Daboll getting things done as they did in 2022 when the team qualified for the NFC Playoffs.
“I have a lot of confidence in this particular team,” Mara said of Schoen and Daboll. “The communication is great, and I think we’ve added some good pieces. Now, it’s time to show.”
