Giants’ OL Max Garcia competing for role as guard/center backup

Max Garcia is one of the plethora of competent, versatile, veteran offensive linemen signed by GM Joe Schoen this offseason as he tried to reconstruct the New York Giants leaks offensive line.

Let’s discuss what role Garcia might have for the 2022 Giants as we continue our player-by-player look at the 90-man roster.

By the numbers

Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 309
Age: 30
Position: OL
Experience: 7
Contract: One-year, $1.2725 million | 2022 cap hit: $1.0475 million

Career to date

Garcia was a fourth-round pick out of Florida by the Denver Broncos in 2015. He spent four seasons with Denver, and the last three with the Arizona Cardinals. Garcia has played in 93 regular-season games, with 52 starts. He has also appeared in four playoff games.

Left guard (2,546 snaps) has been Garcia’s primary position in the NFL. He has, though, also played 834 snaps at right guard. In 2021, he played 297 snaps at center, the first time he had played there in his NFL career.

Garcia was charged with a career-worst five sacks allowed in 532 pass-blocking snaps last season.

2022 outlook

While left guard has been the position Garcia has played most often in his career, he has not played full time in that spot since 2017. Throughout spring practices, the 30-year-old did not appear to be in competition for the starting left guard job.

That looks like it will go to Shane Lemieux, with third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu waiting in the wings.

Garcia has worked at both guard and center, as have Ben Bredeson and Jamil Douglas. It might not be feasible for the Giants to keep all three of those players on the 53-man roster, so they might be competing to see which two the Giants believe would be the best guard/center flex backups to keep.

Considering his experience, Garcia would seem to have an advantage in that competition.