The New York Giants have established one of the best defensive lines in the league led by two of the game’s best interior defenders. In a recent article listing the NFL’s best duos at every position, Pro Football Focus ranked the Giants’ duo of Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams as the best interior defensive duo in the league.
Giants have the best DL duo in the NFL per PFF
PFF’s Jim Wyman ranked Big Blue’s defensive interior duo the top in the NFL entering 2023. The breakout of Lawrence in 2022 combined with the long-term consistency of Williams to build New York an elite duo on the defensive line.
In 2022, Lawrence broke out in a big way, as he and Chris Jones are the only two interior defenders to ever finish with a higher PFF grade than Aaron Donald in a season since he entered the league in 2014. While 2022 was Lawrence’s breakout season, Williams has been one of the most consistently reliable players since he entered the league in 2015, never having a PFF grade lower than 70 in his eight seasons.
Jim Wyman of Pro Footbal Focus
Lawrence earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2022 after totaling 7.5 sacks during the regular season and 70 pressures on 577 pass-rushing snaps during the regular and postseasons combined. Sexy Dexy was an unstoppable force for Big Blue and established himself as one of the best defensive players in the NFL.
Williams was hampered by injuries but still managed to play at a high level in 2022. He ranked 12th on PFF’s Top 32 ranking of defensive linemen. “He’s solid both as a run defender and as a pass rusher and doesn’t really have a weakness to his game,” Gordon McGuinness wrote.
In 12 games, Williams totaled 2.5 sacks, 45 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, and 12 quarterback hits. Since joining the Giants in 2019, Williams has been one of the defense’s top performers year-in and year-out.
The newly-paid Lawrence will look to build on his success from last season and continue to dominate with Williams in 2023. Lawrence and Williams are two of the most impactful defenders in the league and will play a huge role in the success of the New York Giants defense this season.