Francis Mauigoa’s name hardly came up during the broadcast of the Giants’ season-opening win against the Dallas Cowboys.
And that spoke volumes.
The rookie right guard was so steady in his NFL debut that there were no instances of him missing an assignment or of a defender blowing past him to mention.
In fact, Mauigoa didn’t permit a single pressure on his 36 pass blocks, according to Next Gen Stats.
Mauigoa also recorded a 75% run block win rate in Sunday night’s 28-20 victory at MetLife Stadium, contributing to a Giants offense that imposed its will against the Dallas defense.
“Seeing him running to the ball, seeing him finish blocks, try to put guys in the dirt, that’s what you want for offensive linemen — especially at guard,” Giants fullback Patrick Ricard said Tuesday of Mauigoa.
“To see that for the first game, it’s really encouraging. You want offensive linemen to set the tone for the whole offense. Me, seeing that, it makes me want to be doing that every play.”
The Giants selected the 6-6, 335-pound Mauigoa at No. 10 overall in April’s draft — the pick they received in the blockbuster trade sending defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mauigoa, 21, played right tackle in college at Miami, but his profile as a mauling road grader made him an ideal fit at guard for a Giants team that new head coach John Harbaugh is building around physicality.
That physicality was evident during a Week 1 in which the Giants rushed for 165 yards, converted 9-of-11 third downs and dominated the time of possession (36:40 to 23:20).
The Cowboys possessed the ball only twice in the second half because the Giants put together a pair of touchdown drives that exceeded eight minutes, then ran out the final 5:21.
Each of the Giants’ five starting lineman — as well as Ricard — recorded a run block win rate of better than 69%, and none of them were charged with a sack.
Afterward, right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor praised Mauigoa as “energetic” and “physical as hell.”
“That first drive, we were looking at each other like, ‘Damn, this is crazy as hell.’ We’re not used to running it that much,” Eluemunor said of the offensive line as a whole, referring to a 10-play, 83-yard drive that included eight runs and ended with a Cam Skattebo rushing touchdown.
“Especially the way we were running it, and just seeing how Skatt would break through the line of scrimmage, we were handling the line of scrimmage the entire game.”
When they selected him, the Giants viewed Mauigoa as the missing piece on an offensive line they’ve invested heavily in.
The Giants drafted All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas with the No. 4 pick in 2020, then signed him to a five-year, $117.5 million extension in 2023.
They used a second-round pick on center John Michael Schmitz in 2023, while Eluemunor (three years, $39 million) and left guard Jon Runyan Jr. (a two-year, $22 million extension) both signed new contracts with the Giants this year.
Their two-year, $7.6 million contract with Ricard — who followed Harbaugh from Baltimore — is the NFL’s biggest deal for a fullback.
And while Sunday’s win provided a nationally televised showcase of the new-look Giants, their offensive line is nothing new to the Giant defenders who battled them throughout training camp.
“You see guys straining to finish. You see guys straining to get that extra block in. It shows up when these backs are breaking these big runs,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said Tuesday.
“I’m not surprised. The way that we practice, I’ve been seeing it all camp. I’ve seen them go out and execute and have fun.”