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An Overview of the New York Giants Defense
New York did a respectable job of putting pressure on the quarterback in 2024. Their 45 sacks were tied for eighth in the league. Unfortunately for Giants fans, everything else about this defense was hard to watch. Only the Browns intercepted fewer passes, so even with ten fumble recoveries, New York was 28th in turnovers. The pass defense allowed a 69.4% completion rate, which ranked 30th, and they were 29th in yards per attempt. The only thing that made the pass defense look good was a run defense that was 27th in yards and tied for 26th in yards per carry.
This unit was heavily impacted by injuries down the stretch. While they had some good players, the lack of depth hurt them. The organization was aggressive in free agency, signing five defenders who should contribute, including two or three starters. Then they used two of their first three draft picks on edge Abdul Carter and tackle Darius Alexander. There are still some thin spots, but on paper, this unit looks like it should perform much better in 2025.
New York Giants Defensive Linemen
With the selection of Abdul Carter third overall and the signing of Chauncey Golston in free agency, the Giants are both strong and deep at the edge position. Carter is expected to start opposite last year's free agent gem, Brian Burns, with Golston and Kayvon Thibodeaux rotating regularly to keep everyone fresh.
Carter was the consensus number one edge defender in this year's draft. He is an elite talent with exceptional quickness, power, and an arsenal of moves that includes a spin that often leaves offensive linemen blocking air. He is strong at the point of attack and has the skillset and motor to light up the stat sheet like a pinball machine. Carter passes all of the tests with an emphasis on college production. While he put up good numbers in all three seasons at Penn State, his 2024 was eye-catching to the tune of 43-25-12 with 2 forced fumbles, 4 batted passes, and a conference-leading 24 tackles for loss. Edge defenders often start slowly in their rookie seasons. Carter is the kind of player who can hit the ground at full speed and have a huge rookie year.
Brian Burns is a model of year-to-year consistency and will be an excellent bookend. He has recorded between 7.5 and 8.5 sacks in five of his six seasons, with a career mark of 12.5 in 2022. Burns has at least 31 solo stops and 19 assists in each of the last five seasons, with career highs of 41 and 29 after joining the Giants last year. He has 2 or 3 turnovers in five of those seasons, with 21 career batted passes, including a career high of eight last year. Burns was a bit short of elite status over his five seasons in Carolina. The Giants seemed to bring out his best with a top-five in 2024. I need to see double-digit sacks before putting him on the elite tier, but Burns is a solid number one for IDP managers.
With Burns and 2022 fifth overall pick, Kayvon Thibodeaux, on the roster, the selection of Carter was a bit surprising to some. If you look hard, however, it all makes good sense. The team lost Azeez Ojulari to free agency, so they needed a third man. Thibodeaux has 11 sacks in 2023 and can get it done as a pass rusher, but he struggles versus the run at times. The move could ruin what fantasy value he had, but it makes good sense for the team.
Chauncey Golston spent his first three seasons in a backup role for Dallas. Injuries forced them to lean on him as a starter for much of last season. Golston stepped up, playing well versus the run while contributing five sacks. How much action he sees this year could depend on whether the Gians run a three or four-man rotation. That said, it would come as no surprise to see Golston line up as an outside tackle in some situations. The last time they won a Super Bowl, this team was known for putting four edge defenders on the field in many passing situations. No matter how you spin it, though, Golston is unlikely to be fantasy relevant.
The Giants have a rare commodity in nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II: a wide body space eater who can get after the passer at 340 pounds. Lawrence has at least two sacks in each of his six seasons. When he reached seven in 2022, we shrugged it off as an outlier, and it was, at least until he put up nine in 2024. Lawrence now has 20 sacks over the last three seasons. It's time to accept the fact that he's just good. A closer look at last year reminds us that all nine of his sacks came in the first seven games. When a dislocated elbow ended his season in week 13, Lawrence was the fifth-ranked interior lineman, averaging nine points per game. He might not reach double-digit sacks in 2025, but it is a safe bet that Lawrence will be a top-twelve tackle and a quality number one starter for us.
Rakeem Nuñez-Roches and free agent addition Roy Robertson-Harris are penciled in as the starters at the outside tackle spots. They could be pushed by, and will likely end up sharing time with rookie Darius Alexander and veteran addition Jeremiah Ledbetter. The three veterans are all solid, dependable players who will help their team but will not do much to help ours. Alexander, however, is worth keeping an eye on. He's a little raw but has a strong motor and upside as an interior pass rusher.
- Edge Brian Burns – Quality Edge-1 with top five potential
- Edge Kayvon Thibodeaux – Marginal IDP value
- Edge Abdul Carter – Huge long-term potential, and it may not take long to get there
- Edge Chauncey Golston – Marginal impact expected
- DT Dexter Lawrence II – Solid DT1 with top-five potential
- DT Rakeem Nuñez-Roches – No fantasy impact
- DT Roy Robertson-Harris – No fantasy impact
- DT Jeremiah Ledbetter - No fantasy impact
- DT D.J. Davidson – No impact
- DT Darius Alexander – Dynasty sleeper
New York Giants Linebackers
Quality play at the inside linebacker position has been elusive for the Giants over the years. They seemed to have finally solved the riddle when they signed Bobby Okereke in 2023. In his first year with the team, Okereke was gold. He produced 87 solo stops with 54 assists, a sack and a half, 4 forced fumbles, 2 interceptions, and 9 passes defended. Then the team fired defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, and it all fell apart.
Okereke was handicapped by the new system under Shane Bowen. He was no longer free to be as aggressive and struggled to find a comfort zone. As a result, Okereke went from one of his best seasons in 2023 to arguably his worst in 2024. He was slow out of the gate, averaging three solo stops and three assists over the first seven games. The light seemed to come on for Okereke in week eight when, against the Steelers, he looked like the player we had seen for the previous four seasons. It lasted until week thirteen when a back injury shut him down the rest of the way.
It was not until well after he was shut down that we learned Okereke had been dealing with a herniated disc for much of the season. Then the rumors started that the new regime may not have a high opinion of him. That was never confirmed by the team. The fact that they made no significant additions at the position speaks volumes.
My take on the situation is this: Okereke is the best inside backer on the roster. He is a proven commodity who came on strong around mid-season, despite the back issue. He is healthy now and more comfortable in the system. The Giants may not like him, but they are going to pay him a lot of money, and they are going to play him virtually every down of every game so long as he is healthy. He may not put up the same numbers we are used to, but it will be a surprise if he fails to rebound strongly from last year's disaster.
Micah McFadden is the starter next to Okereke. He works in base packages and will see a few sub-package opportunities, but played less than 80% of the snaps in all but two games last season before Okereke was lost. McFadden is a serviceable two-down backer with a good point-per-snap ratio. At 60-47-3 with 2 turnovers, he made a lot of plays for a guy that saw just 670 snaps.
Dating back to his time as defensive coordinator for Tennessee, Shane Bowen has never played two full-time inside linebackers. 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. There is no reason to think McFadden's role will change significantly. He should produce similar numbers in 2025.
Lack of depth had the Giants playing Darius Muasau and Ty Summers at the end of last season. New York improved their depth with the addition of Chris Board and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.
- ILB Bobby Okereke – Expect a solid LB3 with high LB2 upside
- ILB Micah McFadden – Marginal value unless there are injuries
- ILB Chris Board – Injury sleeper with limited upside
- ILB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles – No impact expected
- ILB Darius Muasau – No impact
New York Giants Defensive Backs
The secondary should be the most improved part of the Giants' defense. Strong safety Tyler Nubin is healthy. Jevon Holland was signed to replace Jason Pinnock at free safety. Paulson Adebo was signed to start on the outside opposite Deonte Banks, and Andru Phillips is expected to play over the slot. This is the most talent New York has assembled in the secondary in a long time.
No one in this secondary put up great numbers in 2024. That was largely due to injuries and the fact that the coaching staff was scrambling to fill holes seemingly every week. There is, however, considerable value to be tapped.
Tyler Nubin leads the way. He was the fifteenth-ranked safety in 2024 when an ankle injury ended his rookie season. Nubin was on pace for 79 tackles and 57 assists, but was short in the big play columns. Considering he totaled 17 turnovers, including 13 interceptions as a three-year starter at Minnesota, those numbers should start showing up in year two. Nubin has the versatility to play either safety spot. With the addition of Holland, who is a natural free safety, Nubin is set to see much of his action near or in the box in a run support role, which is a plus for his value. All things considered, Nubin is a strong candidate for a top ten finish.
Jevón Holland is a playmaker with twelve takeaways over his first four seasons, but he is not a big contributor in the tackle columns. Holland had a good fantasy season in 2022, posting 77 tackles, 19 assists, and 4 splash plays. In his other three seasons, he recorded no more than 52 solos. He excels as an open-field tackler and has the speed and cover skills to be successful in the center field role. Holland's skill set and his responsibilities in a scheme that has never produced a useful free safety are enough to keep him off our draft lists.
Paulson Adebo is a very interesting prospect. He was absolutely on fire in 2024 before suffering a broken leg. Through seven games, he was 43-9 in the tackle columns with 10 passes defended and 3 interceptions. In footballguys default scoring, Adebo averaged 14.5 points per game. Taron Johnson was second among corners at 10.2. The questions regarding Adebo are: Is he fully recovered? How much will the change of teams affect his production? And was last year a fluke? The chances of him putting up such gaudy numbers would be pretty slim under any circumstances. That said, corner is a fickle position with a lot of year-to-year inconsistency, but I still have to put him high on my corner list on the chance that he can carry some of that production over.
Third-year pro 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, leaves a little to be desired in fantasy terms. He averaged just under eight points per game as a rookie, ranking 36th among corners. In line with the rookie corner rule, Banks' box score production slipped in his second season to less than six and a half points per game.
There is one other player to keep an eye on here. Andru Phillips was inconsistent but had some good games as a rookie. It's hard to say if the inconsistency was due to his play, the fact that he was banged up at times, missing four games, or that he was constantly shifted around to fill holes. He is not a player we should be drafting, but if he lands the job as a full-time slot defender in the Giants' nickel base defense, he could be surprisingly productive.
- FS Tyler Nubin – Strong number two with top ten upside
- SS Jevón Holland – Marginal fantasy value
- SS Dane Belton – Injury sleeper
- FS Anthony Johnson – No impact expected
- CB Paulson Adebo – Potentially the top fantasy corner in the game
- CB Deonte Banks – No fantasy impact
- CB Dru Phillips – Watch list sleeper
- CB Korie Black – Developmental rookie
- CB Cor'Dale Flott – No impact expected
The Commanders are next in line.
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