Pro Football Focus recently ranked all NFL defensive lines by separating them into tiers — six in total. The New York Giants fell under “Tier 5: Relying on younger players to make the leap” at No. 22 overall.
The lowest tier, tier 6, is titled “Question marks at multiple positions,” so, in theory, it could be worse.
The Giants’ defensive front has a high ceiling, but that’s reliant on Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari performing at a high level in their first and second NFL seasons, respectively. Thibodeaux has ideal pass-rush traits off the edge that led to a 91.5 pass-rushing grade at Oregon in 2021, but it can sometimes take players in the trenches a season or two to find their footing once jumping to the NFL. Ojulari does have one of those years under his belt already — earning just a 56.9 PFF pass-rush grade despite some success in the pressure column (42).
Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence form a nice foundation on the interior, but the Giants need Thibodeaux and Ojulari to hit to really elevate the unit.
Other teams that landed in this tier were the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions.
While PFF isn’t entirely wrong, the defense has a lot of upside this year. And with all of the changes among the coaching staff and front office, it’s nearly impossible to predict how the team will respond once the season begins.
Preseason rankings are well and good all the way up until that first game of the season. After that first game, all of those rankings go out the window. So let’s just hope that the Giants respond better than anyone expects.
