Giants acquire former Ohio State first rounder from Bengals
As NFL teams continue to trim their rosters down, the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants agreed on a trade involving Billy Price, a former first-round pick from Ohio State.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Bengals are sending center Billy Price to New York. In exchange, Cincinnati receives defensive end BJ Hill.
In 2018, Price was selected with the 18th overall selection in the NFL Draft. However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the former Ohio State center at the next level.
After some disappointing seasons to start his career, Price has been rejuvenated this summer. Following impressive performances in training camp and in a preseason game against the Washington Football Team, Bengals’ official team reporter Marisa Contipelli spoke about Price’s resurgence.
“It seems like he kinda has that confidence back that was kinda lacking at times the last two years as he was going through those injuries,” said Contipelli. “And I’m sure it helped a lot finding out that Frank Pollack, the coach that drafted him, was going to be coming back in here to work with him.”
Unfortunately, Price may not have saved his job in Cincinnati. Still, he’ll get an opportunity to compete for a spot on the Giants offensive line that’s been suspect at best.
Can Price help the Giants’ offensive line struggles?
Prior to Price, the Giants made a bevy of moves this offseason to improve their offense. With Daniel Jones entering his third season in the NFL, the team’s front office is attempting to give him every chance to succeed.
While the quarterback has new weapons like Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney, the team still features one glaring weakness. Their bugaboo since the Eli Manning days has been their offensive line. They neglected to address it this offseason, until today.
Now, one of Price’s new teammates is beginning to feel his feet hit the fire.
“There’s definitely pressure,” Giants tackle Andrew Thomas said, via NJ.com. “I put pressure on myself. I know I’ve been given this role. And I worked hard to be here. So I have to step up and do what I have to do.”
Thomas, the fourth-overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft out of Georgia, had an uneven rookie season. Perhaps Price can help the young offensive lineman, as he struggled himself early as a first round selection.
Moreover, Thomas struggled to protect Jones against the Patriots last night. While it was just the preseason, he still allowed 1.5 sacks, was called for a hold and gave up several more QB hits.
With the season so close, the improvements the Giants made at the skill positions won’t matter if their offensive line can’t block for them. Hopefully Billy Price can come in and continue to rejuvenate his career in New York.