PFF: Giants’ center Jon Halapio a rising star?

With Peter King vacationing, the folks from Pro Football Focus took over the ‘Football Morning in America’ column this week. Whether you are a big believer in the usefulness of analytics in football or not, or in Pro Football Focus itself, the discussion provides a fantastic window into analytics in the NFL.

There was one specific nugget that applied directly to the New York Giants that is worth passing along. PFF included Giants’ center Jon Halapio among ‘5 Rising NFL Players’ who could make the Pro Football Focus Top 50 players next offseason. Here is why:

The Giants are revamping their offensive line in a major way, but one of the unsung components of the rebuild is at center, where Halapio could emerge as a foundation piece to the new-look front. He began last year as New York’s starter before going down with an injury after just 116 snaps of action. But in those snaps, he didn’t allow a single pressure, despite almost 50 pass-blocking snaps against the Jaguars and their array of pass-rushing weapons. With vastly improved players beside him, Halapio could prove to be a significant upgrade as a player who isn’t being talked about much heading into 2019.

That corresponds with the film review Matt Williamson recently did in which he told us that Halapio looks like a better pass blocker than run blocker and should be “a center that New York can win with.”