A former top-10 pick and national champion at Alabama, Evan Neal's NFL career has been a story of unfulfilled expectations, injuries, and a recent move inside to guard.
Evan Neal entered the league as the No. 7 overall pick after starting at three different offensive line spots for a national championship team at Alabama, but his Giants tenure has been marked by inconsistency, injuries and a 2025 position switch from tackle to guard. He remains a talented, high-upside lineman looking to finally live up to his draft billing.
Path to the league
Neal was a five-star recruit out of IMG Academy who started at left guard as a true freshman before moving to right tackle for Alabama's 2020 national championship team, later earning consensus All-American honors as a team captain in 2021. The New York Giants drafted him seventh overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, the second offensive lineman selected that year.
Career highlights
Neal started all 13 games he appeared in as a rookie in 2022, including both Giants playoff games that season, despite a midseason MCL sprain. His path since has been bumpier, including a widely criticized public comment about booing fans during a rough 2023 loss that he later apologized for, and ongoing struggles with consistency and durability at tackle.
2025 season recap
The Giants moved Neal from tackle to guard ahead of the 2025 season in an attempt to find the right fit for his skill set. He was placed on injured reserve in November 2025 with a hamstring injury, limiting his availability, and re-signed with New York in March 2026 on a one-year, veteran-minimum contract as he looks to rebuild his standing.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Evan Neal
- ESPN: Evan Neal
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Offensive Tackle
- Group
- offense
- College
- Alabama
- Hometown
- Okeechobee, FL, USA
- Age
- 25
- Status
- active
