New York Giants guard Will Hernandez recovered from a slow start to his rookie campaign and now looks to be a cornerstone of the team’s line.
Pause and take a couple of deep breaths before immediately reacting to the notion that interior lineman Will Hernandez and not running back Saquon Barkley was the best draft pick made by the New York Giants in 2018.
Of course Barkley was excellent, better than advertised and the unnamed Offensive Rookie of the Year in the eyes of pockets of fans and voters. Barkley was the second overall selection of the 2018 NFL Draft and a ball-carrier who supposedly possessed generational talent. The 21-year old had to compete for personal honors, at the very least, his rookie season to prove his worth to the Giants.
Hernandez, on the other hand, seemed little more than a solid get with the 34th overall pick. He’s far from the best selection of the second round. Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard and Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb are both ROTY candidates. Some who feast on posting and promoting hot takes on social media outlets have gone so far to hilariously and inaccurately claim Chubb was the better first-year back than Barkley.
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The guard who showed in training camp that he isn’t afraid to hold his own in a scuffle with teammates or anybody else on a football field is overshadowed by his teammate, not to mention by signal-callers Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Those who do the dirty work up front on either side of the ball are often underappreciated. It’s the nature of the business and the sport.
So much was written and said about the awful play of New York’s offensive line throughout the opening half of the 2018 campaign that one may have missed how much Hernandez improved leading up to the final week of December.
As Ed Valentine of Big Blue View explained, the rookie guard surrendered five sacks in his first seven games before finding his feet and keeping veteran quarterback Eli Manning safe and upright in each of the subsequent eight outings.
Per Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com, New York offensive line coach Hal Hunter spoke with reporters about Hernandez’s improvement:
"“The guys he’s playing against are better than any guys he’s played against [in college],” Giants offensive line coach Hal Hunter said. “He’s playing against the best guys in the country, the best 3-techniques and he’s locked up, so I think he’s learned to adjust to the speed of the game. …His missed assignments have gone way [down]. The first and second half of this season is like night and day in terms of knowing what to do. You just see him reacting quicker and quicker and quicker.”"
Hunter wasn’t the only person to notice Hernandez took steps in the right direction while not missing a snap. Pro Football Focus gave him an above-average grade and named him to their 2018 NFL All-Rookie Team:
"Where would be a 1,000-yard running back without an impressive offensive line and that’s just what Hernandez was this season, impressive. He finished with the league’s second-highest grade for a rookie interior offensive linemen and was only penalized two times across 1,027 snaps."
As with Hernandez, free-agent acquisition Nate Solder needed time and had to fight through some ugly on-the-field performances before locating his true form as part of the team’s line. Solder turns 31 years old in April, and the Giants aren’t married to him, per the terms of his contract, beyond next season. Hernandez, meanwhile, is locked up through 2021. His development is vital regardless of who is playing under center.
That last point shouldn’t be lost on anybody. Yes, the Giants probably should use a 2019 first-round pick on a quarterback who will hopefully become Manning’s successor, but the franchise must also follow the plan executed by the Indianapolis Colts.
Andrew Luck could be the best quarterback in the league, but he’s showing his brilliance these days because his front office finally gifted him a stellar O-line. Hernandez and Solder need help, but Giants general manager Dave Gettleman can rest easy knowing the 23-year old is part of the solution and not another Ereck Flowers.
They’ll be no middle ground with the Barkley pick. He’ll either reach his ceiling and earn a gold jacket at some point in the 2030s, or he’ll be remembered as the guy the Giants took instead of a championship-winning quarterback. There are no such worries about Hernandez this winter. That is why he and not Barkley is the better value draft pick one year into their NFL tenures.