New York Giants' Jon Runyan Jr. impressed with Evan Neal, Abdul Carter

USA Today

3 days ago

This week, two-time Super Bowl head coach Tom Coughlin addressed the current iteration of the New York Giants, telling them that stars are necessary to win, but "you need soldiers, too."
One of those "soldiers" is left guard Jon Runyan Jr., who is entering his second season with the club. Runyan is finally healthy after a season with multiple physical issues. He fought through a separated shoulder all season and then succumbed to an ankle injury in Week 13.
On Saturday, Runyan met with the media and discussed his health and other issues with reporters.
"I hadn't missed a game my entire career," Runyan said about his first stint on IR last year. "Going down the home stretch the last month of the season last year, and sitting on IR definitely wasn't what I had planned or something that I was really happy about, but couldn't really control it. For me, I just kind of try to take that as a mental reset for me.
"Trying to really dig in on what I could be doing to make myself better physically and mentally, and felt like I had a pretty strong offseason recovering from that. And same with going into OTAs and now in training camp, can kind of feel really good right now. And hopefully, our entire team comes out of this training camp healthy and we're able to keep the ball rolling from where we're starting in training camp."
Runyan also addressed the transition of Evan Neal to guard.
"Yeah, transitioning from tackle to guard, I did it, I mean, from a different level, I played tackle in college and moved inside to guard. The three interior positions are kind of a different world," he said. "Tackle, you're out in space, and you have the luxury of running defensive ends just kind of up the field past the quarterback. But at guard, you're in a wrestling match, like kind of in a phone booth. You have to stay in front of the guys, you have to anchor, you have to set the depth of the pocket.
"And Evan, you see those flashes of him when he gets his feet under control and he's punching, he's a large human and not many people are able to bull rush him and set him back. So, Evan's doing a good job, he's progressing. It is like a world of difference moving from outside to inside, in my opinion. I think he's done a good job so far in training camp and can only see him getting better from here. So, it's been inspiring to see what he's done so far in there."
Rookie linebacker Abdul Carter has also impressed Runyan.
"Abdul's been awesome," said Runyan, who's seen Carter's back multiple times this camp already. "A guy as shifty as Abdul, and he can give you a really quick hesitation, left, right, and kind of stutter your feet. And next thing you know, he's already around you."
The Giants finally have a sensible plan at quarterback with Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and rookie Jaxson Dart. Runyan spoke about how different it's been with a seasoned, accomplished veteran under center such as Wilson.
"Russ has been great for our offense," he said. "Coming in here, he's really stepped into that leadership role. I feel like he was someone that we really needed to bring in here. He's been great, bringing this offense together, extra offensive unit meetings. Kind of really getting guys on the same page and seeing the game and seeing the field, how he sees it.
"And I just can't talk enough about how good of a leader he is to the young guys, to the vets, and bringing everybody together. Just every day, he's the same person and brings that consistency. I think that's something we need around here, and he's been awesome for that. So, I have nothing but great things to say about Russ."