New York Giants star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence is pleased with what he has seen from his defensive teammates until this summer. Lawrence spearheaded a Giants pass rush that generated the fourth-fewest sacks (34) in 2023 and did not play up to their talent level in containing opposing passing attacks.
This summer saw the Giants add standout linebacker Brian Burns in free agency, which has now given them a bonafide Pro Bowl-caliber pass rusher in the trenches who brought down eight sacks of his own last season. New York is riding high with him, rising superstar Kayvon Thibodeaux, and linebacker Bobby Okeke behind Lawrence and his four-man rush.
With a healthy level of competition brewing within the Giants franchise, mentalities like the one that the reigning 2023 Second-Team All-Pro lineman expressed to the media on Aug. 22 falls in line with the no-nonsense attitude that is likely emanating from their locker room at present.
The Giants’ defense could place more emphasis on shutting down red zone drives in 2024
The Giants have one of the most talented front sevens in all of football and they’ll be well positioned to stuff runners on first and goal to protect the end zone and to fly off of the edges when quarterbacks roll out or scramble to try and make a play, most considerably to pass-catchers veering toward the out of bounds lines.
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Specific to Lawrence is his adamancy about the Giants wanting to keep offenses out of the end zone. New York coughed up the second-most rushing touchdowns (24) in the previous campaign trailing only the 25 conceded by the Carolina Panthers. Further, their front seven allowed the highest rushing first-down percentage in the league at 28.2%.
Giants’ credo could be a galvanizing force in their defensive line throughout 2024
Thus, Lawrence declaring via Giants.com that “Don’t let them in our house,” — them being opposing offenses — will be a credo of sorts that the defense takes up in 2024, will serve them right in efforts to clean up the aforementioned ineffective play that held them back in 2023.
