The Giants hosted longtime Arizona Cardinals left tackle D.J. Humphries on a free agent visit Tuesday, evaluating a veteran who tore the ACL in his left knee on Dec. 31 of last year. They already signed veteran right tackle Chris Hubbard off the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad last week. GM Joe Schoen is scrambling to fix his front five with left tackle Andrew Thomas (foot surgery) done for the season. Schoen’s top backup left tackle Josh Ezeudu couldn’t do it Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Everyone except the Giants, apparently, had known already for a full calendar year that Schoen’s 2022 third-round pick wasn’t capable. While the Giants are in desperate need of tackles, however, it is glaring that they have not given Schoen’s 2022 No. 7 overall first-round pick Evan Neal a single snap on offense or special teams yet this season. It is more than fair to question whether they have any intention of playing him at all. There is no evidence that points toward a plan to play him. Neal, 24, did not even get a sniff during garbage time in last Sunday’s embarrassing 28-3 loss to the Eagles. If the Giants shift right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor to the left side in their next experiment, it seems possible that they are grooming Hubbard to step in on the right instead of Neal. If they keep Eluemunor at right tackle for Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2), there is no indication that the Giants would be comfortable playing Neal on the left in a game. If they sign Humphries to play left tackle, that would keep Eluemunor on the right and Neal on the sideline and off the field. The Giants also have resisted developing Neal at guard, which at least might have given him an opportunity to provide value if he’s not in their tackle plans. If it’s true that they have put Neal on ice, then — and they intend to start Hubbard or someone else over Neal next when it comes time — it will be a stunning indictment of Schoen and the Giants’ entire operation. And it would beg the question of what he’s even still doing on the roster. The third-year pro missed extended time this offseason due to ankle surgery on Jan. 2. His injury initially was misdiagnosed as a sprain last November, but eventually a fracture was discovered, leading to surgery. He then had a setback while practicing in the spring, which landed him on the physically unable to perform list to start training camp. He returned to limited practice participation prior to the Giants’ second preseason game against the Houston Texans. Then he saw his first game action in the preseason finale against the Jets. Neal only played 21 snaps in that game, though, before leaving with an ankle injury. Since then, has been active for every regular season game but hasn’t taken a single snap. So there are numerous questions about Neal’s status. On Oct. 4, for example, after the Giants had played four regular season games, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo was asked why he wasn’t trying Neal at guard. Bricillo cited Neal’s comfort and fit at tackle, said that Neal had been injured in the spring and early summer, and then added: “It’s been two weeks.” Two weeks was a curious timeline to mention. Bricillo was speaking on a Friday at the end of the team’s fifth week of practice. But Neal has not been on an injury report all season. Bricillo was asked to clarify his “two weeks” comment the next time he spoke on the record last Friday. Bricillo said Neal’s spring and summer absence had caused the Giants to “ease” Neal back in late in training camp “because you’re looking to not get a setback” again. He said Neal therefore only had “two weeks” in the preseason, including one exhibition game, “just back on the field doing football stuff.” So by the time Bricillo updated Neal’s status, “really at that point it had only been three or four weeks of him doing O-line stuff at a full speed live tempo rep.” When Bricillo spoke on Oct. 4, though, that would have been the seventh week Neal had been practicing since he returned to the field in training camp. Bricillo then was asked if Neal had been practicing with the team since Week 1. “Yeah, absolutely,” he said last Friday. “Three weeks ago we were, what, four weeks into the season.” Bricillo had spoken two weeks prior. “I’m not great at math,” he joked. Humphries, 30, who started 98 games for the Cardinals the past eight seasons, is believed to be in the final stages of his ACL rehab. His one remaining step would be to play football on it and regain confidence on his knee. He won’t come cheaply, though, and he presumably has better opportunities than joining the 2-5 Giants. New York is desperate, however, so anything is possible. Schoen spent resources to upgrade his starting offensive line this offseason, but he did not adequately stock his depth the past three years and didn’t draft a single lineman in April, either. Daniel Jones was sacked seven times and pressured on 43.3% of his dropbacks, according to NFL NextGen Stats, in last Sunday’s blowout loss to the Eagles. Daboll benched Jones with 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter with the Giants trailing by three touchdowns. Daboll’s offense finished with 119 yards of offense, the Giants’ lowest total in a game since Bill Clinton was President (1999). They need a solution quickly to prevent this season from going completely off the rails for a second straight season. Remember: they allowed 85 sacks last season, the second-most in NFL history. But it doesn’t appear Schoen’s first-round pick Neal is one of their options. What a damning reality if that is truly the case. BOOGIE DOWN The Giants released defensive end Boogie Basham one year after trading a 2025 sixth-round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Basham and a 2025 seventh. Basham, 26, had 12 tackles in 13 games the past two seasons. He appeared in only one game this season. The team also signed defensive tackle Armon Watts from their practice squad to the active roster. Watts, 28, played 15 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. He spent his first three years (2019-21) in Minnesota with Giants defensive line coach Andre Patterson, whose unit is looking to bounce back after allowing 269 rushing yards to Saquon Barkley and the Eagles. The Giants’ defense is actually allowing 5.2 yards per carry, tied for second-worst in the NFL.