Across the NFL, teams have varying levels of depth and infrastructure in place to survive the inevitable injuries along the marathon of the NFL season. But a few players on each roster are underlined are catastrophic, season-stopping losses.

For the New York Giants, star left tackle Andrew Thomas was firmly entrenched on that list of "unrecoverables."

Now, he's out for the season, having undergone Lisfranc surgery after suffering an injury in Week 6's 17-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Simply put, the loss is as dire as it sounds. Thomas is far and away New York's best lineman, and while the unit has exceeded expectations, the unit remains fragile. So often, offensive lines are as strong as their weakest link. Whoever replaces Thomas the rest of the way will be doing more damage control than anything else.

But "replacing" may be too strong of a word, at least according to head coach Brian Daboll, who's tasked with patching up a star-sized hole on the left side of the line. Between backup tackle Joshua Ezeudu, starting right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, and first-round tackle Evan Neal, his options don't inspire a ton of confidence.

"Well, you can't replace an Andrew Thomas," Daboll said on Wednesday. "... So, that's what the development of players is all about. We've had six weeks here in the regular season where Evan has taken, I'd say, the majority of right tackle snaps in case something happened to Jermaine. Ezeudu has taken left tackle snaps."

New York's first plan of action will be letting Ezeudu step in. That's justifiable - it requires fewer moving parts and less trust in player development than any other move.

However, Ezeudu struggled mightily when filling in for Thomas last season as part of a crumbling Giants offensive line. This preseason, he looked much better, but training camp woes had fans clamoring for a move back to guard.

Subsequently, New York must remain open-minded to potential changes, even if it means flipping Eluemunor to left tackle and risking a dropoff at multiple positions.

"Again, Jermaine will start out today at the right side," Daboll said. "We'll put Ezeudu in here at the left. Then we'll rotate guys around throughout the week. However it goes, we'll give the majority of reps to however it sorts out early in practice, on Thursday, and then ultimately on Friday. You're not going to replace an Andrew Thomas. I feel terrible for him."

Perhaps the most important part of this equation is right tackle Evan Neal. Drafted to be the bookend of an elite tackle pairing, Neal has fallen well short of expectations, battling injuries and inconsistencies on his way to the second string.

Thus far, the Giants want to keep Neal at right tackle, where he's been practicing. He'll remain the backup right tackle, but if Eluemunor shifts over, the right tackle job would presumably be his. From there, it's on him to redeem himself and general manager Joe Schoen.

Related: Andrew Thomas' Season Is Over

"He's (Ezeudu) really focused on trying to improve over there on the left side throughout one-on-ones and Evan has done the same thing at the right side in one-on-ones and on the look team," Daboll said. "They're both improving, but that's the life of a backup. You got to make sure you're ready to go."

Thomas' injury threatens New York's season, potentially more than anyone else on the roster. The only path out of this, barring an unforeseen acquisition, is by getting better play than anticipated out of its contingency plans. Whether it's Ezeudu, Neal, or a combination of the two, the Giants need a player development victory to yield tangible results.