The New York Giants have spent enough time plugging obvious leaks that the roster doesn’t look like a construction zone anymore. Adding bodies like Shelby Harris and D.J. Reader helps stabilize the front and takes some heat off what used to be a much louder set of problems.

But football teams don’t need a roster full of holes to have issues. Sometimes it’s just one spot that keeps showing up on tape, quietly, play after play.

For New York, that spot is center.

The Biggest Roster Hole

Aaron Schatz of ESPN sizes up the biggest roster holes for each NFL team going into the new season in a Thursday, May 7 feature.

For the Giants, he picks center.

“Now that the Giants have signed Shelby Harris and DJ Reader to fill holes along the defensive front, they don’t have any glaring holes in the starting lineup,” he states. “However, they do have weaknesses, and one of them is John Michael Schmitz Jr., who has never quite lived up to his second-round draft potential in the center of the offensive line.”

He adds: “Last year, Schmitz ranked 23rd among starting centers with a 94.1% pass block win rate and 27th with a 65.1% run block win rate. The Giants brought in veteran Lucas Patrick to back up Schmitz, but Patrick played in only six games for the Bengals last season, partly due to a calf injury, and will be 33 years old this season.”

John Michael Schmitz Jr. was drafted to be the long-term answer in the middle of the offensive line, but so far it hasn’t fully clicked. Last season, he posted a 94.1% pass block win rate, which lands him 23rd among starting centers. On the ground, it was more of a struggle—65.1% run block win rate, 27th at the position. Not disastrous. Not settled either.

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It’s the kind of production that sits in that uncomfortable middle ground where you’re not replacing him, but you’re also not fully relaxing when the protection calls come in.

Behind him, the Giants added veteran Lucas Patrick, a steady backup idea on paper. But he only played six games for the Bengals last season due in part to a calf injury, and he’s entering his age-33 season. That’s not a long-term fix—that’s insurance with a short shelf life.

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So the Giants’ offensive line picture is mostly stable now, but center is still the position that decides how smooth everything feels. It’s the snap, the timing, the first step of every play. If that part is even slightly off, everything else starts compensating.

And that’s the quiet concern here. Not chaos. Just a single position where “almost there” isn’t quite the same as “set.”