Andrew Thomas using Pro Bowl voting slight as Giants motivation

Pro Bowl voting is stifling Andrew Thomas the way that he shuts down the best pass rushers in the NFL.In a major oversight, Thomas, who analytics show is among the league’s premier left tackles, is not among the top 10 offensive tackles in the fan vote for the Pro Bowl.Players and coaches will cast their votes before Pro Bowlers are announced in Week 18.

Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.“As a competitor, you want to be among the top at your position,” the Giants star said, “but, to me, it’s just a signal that I need to be better.

There’s always something I need to improve on.I can’t really control what the people that make those decisions think.

The people that you go against, their respect matters and means a lot to me.”Among tackles with at least 300 pass-blocking snaps, Thomas ranks No.2 in fewest sacks allowed (one), longest average time to pressure (3.9 seconds) and fewest quick quarterback pressures allowed in under 2.5 seconds (two), per NextGenStats.

He handles a one-on-one matchup 84.4 percent of the time (fifth highest), including 60 one-on-one snaps against players with at least 6.5 sacks on the season (resulting in eight pressures and no sacks).“Going back to my days at Georgia, [head coach] Kirby Smart would always say, ‘Team success equals individual success,’ ” Thomas said.“I do think that plays a part — especially as an offensive lineman because unless you are watching the film day in and day out, we don’t have a ton of stats or highlight plays.”Despite a 2-12 record, the Giants’ offensive line is the best it has been in a decade because of Thomas’ makes-everyone-better trait.“That’s a great way to describe him,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said.

“He has that effect on people, just by his work ethic, by his play, by his production, how he handles himself in the building, how he handles himself around the players in the lock...