{"id":265261,"date":"2025-08-06T02:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T02:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/265261\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T02:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T02:44:11","slug":"greg-van-roten-imparting-wisdom-on-evan-neal-in-awkward-giants-position-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/265261\/","title":{"rendered":"Greg Van Roten imparting wisdom on Evan Neal in awkward Giants position battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greg Van Roten was a 28-year-old four-year veteran before he made his first NFL start, so excuse him if he laughs at the idea that the story of Evan Neal\u2019s career already is written.<\/p>\n

Neal, 24, doesn\u2019t have to be a bust for the Giants<\/a>. Not if the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft takes to his new home at right guard after three underwhelming seasons at right tackle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy to move inside, especially at this level,\u201d Van Roten said after Tuesday\u2019s walk-through. \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s been humbled. This is not, I\u2019m sure, what he thought his career was going to be at this point. But sometimes it takes a while for guys to get going in the NFL. I think he is taking it in stride, and he could have a bright future if he keeps embracing it, working and trying to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van Roten, 35, is in an awkward spot: He is trying to reclaim the job that he had last season \u2013 and did well enough in to be re-signed to a one-year, $3.75 million contract \u2013 by holding off Neal, while still imparting the wisdom he gained from making the same tackle-to-guard transition out of college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewGiants\u2019 Greg Van Roten speaks to the media at OTAs in East Rutherford, N.J. Duncan Williams\/CSM\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

One of Neal\u2019s main issues at tackle was balance and ending up on the ground too often.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t give you a time for how long it takes to feel comfortable,\u201d Van Roten said, \u201cbecause once you feel like you have one thing figured out, something else pops up. You have to be comfortable with being inexperienced, and maybe having some reps that don\u2019t look great and learning from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Giants have rotated the two options within training-camp practices except for the two days that Van Roten was on excused paternity leave. Van Roten is listed as the starter on the unofficial preseason depth chart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played guard for a while so I can give him pointers on what\u2019s helped me,\u201d Van Roten said. \u201cObviously, we have different body types. I would be considered more of a technician inside because I\u2019m not blessed with his strength, size and all that. He has tools that I don\u2019t have that we\u2019re just trying to get him to unlock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EvanEvan Neal IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

There has been clamoring within the fan base for the Giants to try Neal at right guard and move Van Roten to center to challenge third-year pro John Michael Schmitz.<\/p>\n

Van Roten made two starts at the end of last season in place of an injured Schmitz, but Schmitz has delivered every first-team snap rep through 10 practices.<\/p>\n

Head coach Brian Daboll doubled down Tuesday on his confidence in Schmitz, while Van Roten is devoting all his efforts to right guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the value that I bring to a team \u2013 my position flexibility,\u201d Van Roten said. \u201cIn the offseason, my preparation doesn\u2019t change too much from year to year. If I finish the season healthy, if it aint broke, don\u2019t fix it. I\u2019m always snapping the ball and staying ready. Hopefully, I don\u2019t need to be in there if I don\u2019t have to be in there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Greg Van Roten was a 28-year-old four-year veteran before he made his first NFL start, so excuse him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,6643,1917,56,2321,2469,6,9,8896],"class_list":{"0":"post-265261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-greg-van-roten","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-giants","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkgiants","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-training-camp"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114979528051773644","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}