Overview
The Giants defense was horrible in 2021. They made a lot of moves to get better heading into 2022, improving to mediocre. The organization did not use much capital on the defensive side last offseason. Instead, they added a couple of key players and counted on the young additions of the previous seasons to do the rest. That strategy was an epic failure but to be fair, injuries were a big factor.
The pass defense was mediocre in terms of yardage and didn't give up a bunch of big plays but the pass rush was weak with four teams recording fewer than the Giants' 34 sacks. When it came to stopping the run, it was ugly. New York finished 29th in yards and 27th in plays of 20+. Only Denver surrendered more yards per carry and only Carolina allowed more rushing touchdowns.
Injuries were not the team's only problem. There was internal strife seemingly throughout the organization that led to in-season coaching changes to the staff. That included the departure of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. Thus, the team's first step in turning things around was the hiring of Shane Bowen as defensive coordinator.
Bowen is a 3-4 guy who ran some good defenses as the Titans' coordinator over the past three seasons. The Giants have more talent to work with than the statistics show, and the few moves they made this offseason look like good ones. It will be interesting to see how big of a difference Bowen can make. Call me optimistic.
Defensive Linemen
The Giants' plan going into last season was to rely heavily on their two young edge defenders to supply a pass rush. Kayvon Thibodeaux came through big time. The 2022 first-round pick led the team with eleven and a half sacks, forced three fumbles, and recovered one. The splash plays are enough to make Thibodeaux roster-worthy, but his low tackle totals in his first two seasons limit him to the marginal second-starter category.
Thibodeaux's rookie campaign produced 49 combined stops with 33 solos. In year two, it was 50 total stops with 26 solos. That might be who he is, but we should not overlook the upside here. The young man is 23 years old and improving, and the new defensive coordinator has a history of good production from his edge players.
The other young edge defender they were counting on was 2021 second-round pick Azeez Ojulari. That didn't go so well. He battled an ankle injury all season, missing several games and not playing much when he was active. Ojulari is a talented player with a lot of potential. The issue is availability.
Ojulari showed a lot of promise as a rookie. He didn't make a ton of tackles (49 combined), but his eight sacks led the team. Expectations were high entering year two, but the season was a virtual wash due to a string of injuries. Ojulari missed the first two games with a sore hamstring and two more with an ankle at the end of the year. In between, he was out seven games with a strained calf. The team is certainly not giving up on the young man, but they are gun-shy to the point that they coughed up a bunch of money to pay Brian Burns.
New York gave him 41,000,000 guaranteed over three years. That is a lot of money for a player who has recorded more than eight sacks once in five seasons. Either the market was high on edge rushers, or the Giants were looking at the Burns of 2022. That player put up career-highs in tackles with 63 and sacks with 12.
Burns was exceptionally consistent over his five years with Carolina. He put up 7 sacks as a rookie in 2019. In three of his other four seasons, Burns recorded 8. He has between 31 and 35 solo stops in four consecutive campaigns and has produced 2 or 3 turnovers in four of five. Those numbers are probably the floor for him in this defense. There is always some risk when a player changes teams. This one looks safe, and the change of venue could be just what Burns needs to ignite his upside.
If he can stay out of the trainer's room, Ojulari should get the third-most snaps on the edge, with Carlos Basham not too far behind. If they are forced to go any deeper than that, it will be a problem.
Denico Autry recorded 28 sacks while playing under Bowen over the last three seasons. With at least 8 in each of those years, they represent three of the four highest sack totals of his ten-year career. The problem is that there is no Autry on this roster.
What the Giants have is a roster full of big bodies that can stuff holes, but there is not much wiggle among them. The projected starters are Dexter Lawrence II (340 pounds), D.J. Davidson (320), and Rakeem Nunez–Roches (305). The rest of the rotation should include Jordan Phillips (330), Jordon Riley (315), Etc. The only tackle checking in under 305 is Ryder Anderson.
While this collection of space eaters is not a goldmine for IDP managers, there is one player worthy of consideration. Most people have Dexter Lawrence II penciled in at nose tackle. He may line up there in base situations but even at 340 pounds, Lawrence is the best interior pass rusher of the group. He has 19 sacks in four seasons with a career-high of 7.5 in 2022.
Coach Bowen's defenses tend to pull a down lineman in favor of an extra defensive back in passing situations. That should mean at least some looks from a three-technique alignment for Lawrence, and we should keep in mind that he played some outside tackle in three-man fronts with the Giants in recent years.
Lawrence has been an IDP factor since becoming a starter in 2020. He has at least 53 combined stops in four straight seasons with a career-best of 35-33-7 with 2 forced fumbles in 2022. Those numbers put Lawrence in the top ten. He slid back to the low 20 range in 2023. That has been his norm. There is some upside with Lawrence, and at worst, he should be a high DT3.
- Edge Brian Burns – High floor and Edge1 potential
- Edge Kayvon Thibodeaux – Low Edge2 with big upside
- Edge Azeez Ojulari – High upside injury sleeper
- Edge Carlos Basham – Modest impact at best
- DT Dexter Lawrence – Target as a low second starter with low DT1 upside
- DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches – No impact
- DT Jordan Phillips – No impact
- DT J.D. Davidson – No impact
- DT Ryder Anderson – No impact
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Linebackers
After years of trying to make gems out of coal at the linebacker position, the Giants finally found their diamond in Bobby Okereke. The 2019 third-round pick spent his first four years with the Colts, where he was a starter in the final three. He was a tackling machine for the Colts, piling up 90+ solo stops in 2021 and 2022, but he was not a big-play guy in Indianapolis.
The tackle production traveled well, with Okereke going 92-58. He far exceeded expectations in the splash play department. With 2.5 sacks, 6 turnovers, and 10 passes defended, Okereke edged out Alex Singleton and Zaire Franklin to rank second at the linebacker position. At this time last year, I stated that Okereke is the real deal. Now, there is no question. Look for another top-ten finish from him in 2024.
Coach Bowen never played two full-time linebackers in a game in three years with Tennessee. One might look at his rosters and argue that he never had two linebackers worthy of playing full-time. That might be a valid point, but New York's situation is no different.
Micah McFadden was the starter next to Okereke. He worked in base packages and a few sub-packages but played less than 75% of the snaps in all but three games. He is a serviceable two-down backer with a good point-per-snap ratio. At 63-38-1 with 5 turnovers, McFadden made a lot of plays for a guy that saw 737 snaps. At 9.6 points per game, he was depth for IDP managers, ranking LB42.
McFadden could post similar numbers in 2024, but we should not count on it. Bowens likes players who play good pass defense. It is not unusual for him to roll with one linebacker, three safeties, and three corners or go with five defensive backs and an extra pass rusher to overload a blocking scheme.
It will be interesting to see if Bowen can figure out what to do with Isaiah Simmons. The previous defensive coordinator used him as a sub-package replacement for McFadden. Simmons came into the league as a tweener who had played more safety than linebacker. He is now up to 238 pounds and will not spend much time in the secondary going forward.
Simmons is still fast, has great cover skills for a linebacker, and has a knack for the big play. With his skill set, I could see him becoming a productive member of the starting unit, possibly sending McFadden into a backup role.
- ILB Bobby Okereke – Elite tier LB1
- ILB Micah McFadden – Potential depth
- ILB Isaiah Simmons – Watchlist player with the right skill set to excel in this scheme
- ILB Carter Coughlin – Injury sleeper
- ILB Darius Muasau – Developmental rookie
Defensive Backs
The longest-tenured starters in New York's secondary were Xavier McKinney and Adore' Jackson. There is talent on this roster, but with both guys gone, this is a very young unit. The average experience of the five projected starters is 2.1 years.
Last year's first-round pick, Deonte Banks, is the team's number-one corner. He has all the tools to become one of the elite and is well on the way to doing so. Banks was thrown to the sharks as a rookie and performed well on the field. His stat sheet, however, left a little to be desired. He missed the final two games, finishing with 64 total tackles, 2 picks, and 11 passes defended. At just under eight points per game, Banks ranked 36th.
The only real knock on Banks coming out of college was that he doesn't relish contact. We saw nothing to confirm that in his first year as a pro. If his tackle numbers hold and he can add a few more big plays, Banks will be worthy as depth or maybe a second starter in a pinch.
Cor'Dale Flott was the team's third-round pick in 2022. He played sparingly as a rookie but saw a lot more action in year two. Heading into season three, Flott is in line to land the starting job opposite Banks. We have not seen enough of Flott to develop a good picture of his statistical value. What we have seen is nothing to get excited about.
There could be a heated competition for the nickel corner job. Tre Herndon is the elder statesman of the Giants secondary and could be the favorite simply because he is the most experienced. Last year's sixth-round pick, Tre Hawkins III, saw a lot of action and played well. He could be in the mix along with this year's third-rounder, Andru Phillips, and potentially safety Jalen Mills if he is healthy.
When Xavier McKinney signed with Green Bay, New York lost one of the game's premier safeties. They filled the void with Tyler Nubin, arguably the best safety in this draft class. Nubin is not the biggest or the fastest but has great instincts and anticipation. He can play either safety spot and is not shy when it comes to run support, but Nubin's biggest asset is his knack for the big play. As a three-year starter for Minnesota, he totaled 17 turnovers, including 13 interceptions.
McKinney went 78-37-.5 with six turnovers and a rank of fifth among safeties. Nubin has a similar skill set, but this will be a different scheme. What we do know is that Kevin Byard III was the fantasy game's number-one safety while playing for Bowen in this scheme in 2021, and he was ninth in 2022. I like Nubin's chances of having a highly productive rookie year.
Jason Pinnock is the early favorite for the other safety spot, but only because he was a starter last year. Pinnock was somewhat inconsistent, both on the field and in box scores in 2023. He had some big games and a bad one here and there as well. His biggest competition could come from third-year man Dane Belton. If the coaching staff elects to run with one full-time linebacker, the Giants might very well give us two quality safeties. Keep an eye on this situation in August.
FS Tyler Nubin – High upside rookie
SS Jason Pinnock – Low-end second starter or quality depth if he lands the job
SS Dane Belton – Sleeper with second-starter potential
FS Jalen Mills – Returning from injury but could be a factor once healthy
FS Gervarrius Owens – Developmental rookie
CB Tre Herndon – No impact
CB Deonte Banks – Potential CB3
CB Cordale Flott – Marginal value expected
CB Andru Phillips – Rookie corner rule could apply
CB Darnay Holmes – No impact
CB Aaron Robinson – Recovering from injury and may not be ready for week one
And then there were two. The Commanders are next in line.
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