After the New York Giants' 2020 season started with visions of Shane Lemieux cross-training as a center, injuries and poor play put him back in a familiar position: guard.
Lemieux started nine games during his rookie season, stepping in for the incumbent Will Hernadez when he tested positive for COVID-19. However, Lemieux could not build on his rookie campaign after a patellar tendon injury suffered early in training camp ended his campaign after just 17 snaps in the Week 1 regular-season opener.
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Now coming back from season-ending surgery and with a new regime, what is Lemieux's future? The Giants brought in a lot of help at guard via free agency and the draft, so a lot of his future will hinge on the identity the Giants want to create upfront.
For Lemieux's part, he brings some interesting attributes to the table. He is extremely physical and aggressive as a run blocker, and although he's not the biggest guard, he plays much larger than his stature suggests.
He is also a very intelligent football player, which has always allowed him to overcome his shortcomings in the past, but he needs it to help improve one part of his game that still suffers.
The Good: Stunt Recognition
As previously noted, Lemieux is an intelligent football player who understands the game at an intimate level and realizes the importance of film study and knowing his opponent. So it is no surprise that he excels at diagnosing and neutralizing defensive line stunts and gap exchange pressures.
Lemieux does a good job of not allowing movement to manipulate his gap responsibility, and therefore he rarely finds himself out of place when defending gap exchanges.
He also has the athleticism and footwork to carry a defender one way and adjust to another defender attacking him the other way. His feet never get crossed up, and he doesn’t allow himself to get off balance.
In the first clip, you see him begin blocking a defender one way and pass him off to another lineman so he can block another.
The key to his ability to identify the stunt is keeping his posture back and his head up and out of the defender's chest. He also does not allow the defender to get into his body and lock on to him.
Another small key is that he gives the defender a shove to pass him along to his teammate. In the second clip, he is blocking a defender with the center, and when he sees the loop from another defender, he bumps the center off so that the center can go and block the looping defender.
The Great: Pulling in Run Blocking
The ability to pull in the run game is a talent that not all offensive linemen have and is a skill at which Lemieux excels.
He is great at blocking on the run or even in open space. He has great footwork and short-distance quickness. He also has good balance, which allows him to square himself and strike a defender with force.
At Oregon, he was considered a mauler in the run game, and he has brought that aggressiveness with him to the NFL. He is good at keeping his feet moving upon contact with a defender, which is why he is a great block finisher.
In the first clip, Lemieux pulls to kick out the Washington defensive end. He opens to avoid any traffic, he does not stop his feet on contact, and when he strikes, he rolls his hips to move the defender.
He also ensures he gets his head on the defender's inside so that he can not shed the block inside and make a tackle on the back who is running off Lemieux’s back.
In the second clip, Lemieux kicks out the defensive tackle on a trap block.
This is an urgent block because it happens immediately and is at the point of attack. Lemieux does a great job of pulling into the line of scrimmage to seal off the tackle before he can engage his hands. This allows the back to cut underneath his block.
The Ugly: Pass Protection
While Lemieux is not awful in pass protection, based on what we last saw of him, we can't say it is his strength.
The major problem he seems to possess is that his natural aggression gets the best of him, and he tends to lunge at defenders in one-on-one pass-blocking situations. This gets him off balance and allows defenders to get by him or put him at a disadvantage in pass pro.
He also tends to overset and give up inside moves and swim moves to defenders.
The following clips show Lemieux being defeated by a defender who uses a swim move.
The first is a slow and long swim move that the defender uses to get on the shoulder of Lemieux and collapse the pocket.
The second is a quick burst swim that leaves Lemieux grasping at air and provides immediate pressure on the quarterback. He let his head drop in both cases, which seemed to get him in trouble.
Final Thoughts
This camp will be very telling for Lemieux's future with the team. There's a chance that he will open camp as the starting left guard, but the Giants have invested a lot of draft capital and free agent money on the interior offensive line, so this will be a battle for him.
His future may simply hinge on the philosophy and identity of the offense. If the offense will lean into the run game more, then Lemieux has a great opportunity to earn the job full-time.
If they decide that pass protection is more important, there is a chance that one of the other options at guard who is a better pass blocker should get the start.
As for Lemieux, who shed the red medical jersey in the spring, hopefully, he can put his best foot forward in this upcoming competition.
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