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When New York Giants offensive lineman Marcus McKethan first heard the pop in his knee, he saw his NFL career flash before his eyes.
Fortunately for McKethan, the Giants didn’t give up on the 6-7 335-pound talent out of the University of North Carolina who lost his rookie campaign to a torn ACL suffered last preseason.
McKethan, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick who played 2,546 of his career 2,559 snaps for the Tar Heels at right guard, made a promise to himself to keep on grinding mentally so that when his knee healed, he’d be ready to step in without having missed a beat.
“Yeah, I was still in meetings,” he told Giants Country. “Our o-line coach (Bobby Johnson) makes sure we all know what to do. So I mean, they, they kept pounding on us our assignments. So staying on top of that, taking care of my rehab and my lifts, and making sure I was ready when they cleared me.”
McKethan’s diligence has paid off. As his surgically repaired knee got stronger, McKethan said he began doing some offensive line drills while being watched by the trainers to make sure he wasn’t having any setbacks. Although he would miss half of training camp as he finished the latter part of his rehab, McKethan hit the ground running when he returned.
By Week 2 of the NFL season, McKethan was named the Giants’ starting right guard, replacing veteran Mark Glowinski, who had a horrific showing against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
McKethan, meanwhile, consistently used his big body to swallow up his man, reacted well to several stunts and blitzes, and executed several text-book double-teams with right tackle Evan Neal against the Cardinals, all the while using his long arms and impressive size to his advantage.
Four days later, against the 49ers, McKethan, going against Arik Armstead, was, at times, beaten by athleticism, technique, and power but otherwise survived the night, showing proficiency in the run-blocking game and demonstrating an ability to move with the short pull and hit his man square on the move.
“I think Marcus has done an excellent job being put in that role,” said Johnson. “He's a smart, tough and dependable kid. I wish we'd had more time with him last year, but obviously, he missed a lot of time last year with an injury. But he stepped in and played at the level that he was playing before he got hurt last year. I think it's a testament to the kid working hard in the off-season, rehabbing all those things, and getting himself ready for an opportunity.”
Johnson said that McKethan kept flashing intriguing ability, working against Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams in practice before and after his injury.
“He did do some things. He was held out of preseason, but he did things in practice. I mean, the good thing for us is that we have two very good defensive tackles on our team that he gets to practice against every day. So you get to see him against really good players,” Johnson said.
“So that's how we gauged it, looking at how he handled himself against our guys. And then once he did get the opportunity, he was like, yeah, we were right.”
McKethan admitted that getting used to the game's speed took some time, but so far, so good.
“I feel like I'm starting to get into my routine,” he said. “I think everything is all right.”
But, he added, there is still a lot more to come.
“Yeah, there is still more stuff to clean up. So I'm getting there certainly,” he said.
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