Grading the Giants’ Roster: Defense

The New York Giants surprised everyone when they reached the playoffs and beat the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round last season. But their 38-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round demonstrated how far they still had to go, and why it was such a surprise for them to be in that position in the first place. The Giants, simply put, weren’t nearly talented enough to compete with a powerhouse like Philadelphia, and that truth bore itself out all too starkly on the field.

General manager Joe Schoen’s goal this offseason, then, was simple but challenging: improve the talent on this roster enough so this team can take the next step in it’s development toward its ultimate goal of winning a super bowl. Now that we find ourselves in this dead zone of the NFL calendar, well beyond the draft and free agency but well ahead of training camp, let’s take stock of Big Blue’s projected roster heading into the 2023 season, and assign a letter grade to each position group. Today, we’ll focus on defense.

And if you’re curious about the rubric, grades will be given out based on where a position group ranks across the NFL. A top-seven ranking would earn an A, a ranking between 8th and 14th would earn a B, and so on. A bottom-four ranking would earn an F.

Interior Defensive Line: A+

Let’s start off with a bang at New York’s best on-paper position group. Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams combine to make arguably the NFL’s best tandem of interior defensive lineman. That will be the case this season as it was last season, but the big improvement Schoen made in this area is the depth. He signed sturdy, proven veterans in A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches this offseason, giving the Giants a talented and reliable rotation of defensive tackles. It’s hard to argue against this group being one of the best two or three in football.

EDGE: B

The Giants have an exciting and promising pair of young edge rushers in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari. Thibodeaux showed flashes of dominance as a rookie, and is looking to put together a more consisent second season. Ojulari was very productive when on the field last season, but missed significant time with injury for the second straight season. If both players stay healthy, they could form one of the very best pass-rushing duos in football. New York’s depth at EDGE isn’t great, with veteran Jihad Ward returning as a solid run defender and not much beyond him. I had this group ranked 11th in the league.

Off-Ball Linebacker: D-

Last year, the Giants undeniably has the worst linebacking corps in the NFL. It was a clear area of need, and one that Schoen addressed by signing Bobby Okereke from the Indianapolis Colts to a four-year, $40-million deal. Okereke is a good, but not great, player, and New York has no other linebackers we can confidently project as competent starters. In short, the Okereke signing keeps this group from being astonishingly awful, but not from still being among the league’s worst. I have them ranked 28th in the NFL, just barely escaping an F grade.

Cornerback: C+

Cornerback is another position that required attention from Schoen this offseason. While he used free agency to address linebacker, he used the draft to address corner. The Giants traded up one spot in the first round to secure Maryland’s Deonte Banks, a hyper-athletic man-coverage corner that should fit coordinator Wink Martindale’s defense well. If Banks hits the ground running, he could form a solid tandem on the outside with veteran Adoree’ Jackson. Of course, rookies can often struggle, especially at cornerback, so expecting Banks to pull a Sauce Gardner and be great right away isn’t a winning recipe. I have this position group ranked 15th, just missing out on a grade in the Bs.

Safety: C

Safety is perhaps the one postion where you can quibble with the lack of attention Schoen paid it this offseason. 2022 starter Julian Love was allowed to walk in free agency to the Seattle Seahawks, while journeyman Bobby McCain and seventh-round pick Gervarrius Owens were the only additions to the position. As it stands, fourth-year man Xavier McKinney is the only quality starter on the roster. McKinney himself is coming off a middling year in which he was forced to miss time with a hand injury from which he’s still recovering. The Giants are hoping one of McCain, Dane Belton, or Jason Pinnock steps up to play alongside McKinney. Safety isn’t a very strong position throughout the league, so Big Blue still earns a C grade with a 19th overall ranking.

– Ryan Cuneo is the Managing Editor of Full Press Giants. He covers the New York Giants. Like and follow on Follow @ryan_cuneo Follow @FullPressGiants and Facebook.