Giants Country

How New York Giants Defense Might Be Different in 2023

The Giants defense wasn't horrible last season, but there is a lot of room for improvement. Here are some improvements to watch for that could help the unit be better in 2023.

Patricia Traina

How New York Giants Defense Might Be Different in 2023
How New York Giants Defense Might Be Different in 2023 /
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Last year, the New York Giants defense finished 25th overall in the league, allowing 358.2 yards per game and 5.65 yards per play (24th).

So it goes without saying that improvement--and lots of it--is necessary for this, Year 2 of defensive coordinator Wink Martindale's system. And while it remains to be seen exactly how Martindale plans to steer the defense toward marked improvement in 2023, here are a few things we can likely expect to be new--and hopefully improved!

Better Second-Level Talent

Pop quiz: When was the last time you remember a position group cycling through so many players not due to injury?

If you answered last year and the Giants linebackers, you win. The Giants, who at the start of the season surprisingly parted with Blake Martinez, went through player after player to find an answer both in coverage and the run defense, only to come up empty.

In fact, one of the many arguments as to why the Giants run defense struggled so greatly was because of the inability of the linebackers to fill holes. The safeties were often called to come up and help in this regard, and this led to a trickle-down effect that just wasn't very productive.

So it was no surprise that general manager Joe Schoen added veteran depth in free agency by signing Bobby Okereke to the mix. For those who put stock in Pro Football Focus's grades, Okereke had the best overall defensive grade over any of the Giants linebackers last season, and it wasn't even close.

His 53 stops far exceeded what any single Giants linebacker did (Jarrad Davis was the next closes with 36), and his 78.5 percent pass conversion rate was actually the lowest when compared to the Giants linebackers.

Okereke figures to be an every-down linebacker for the Giants, who will audition Davis, Carter Coughlin, Cam Brown, Darrian Beavers, Troy Brown, and Micah McFadden for the other role alongside Okereke.

Suffice it to say that keeping Okereke, who, by the way, might end up wearing the green dot this year for the Giants defense on the field, will be paramount to the Giants defensive improvement.

Improved Defensive Line Depth

Want another scary fact about this Giants defense? For more than two years, they've been trying to find sufficient depth capable of giving starting defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams a breather--while not giving the opponent a free play.

Ideally, a starting defensive lineman plays around 60-65 percent of his team's defensive snaps. But Williams and Lawrence had way more put on their shoulders, which was bound to catch up with them.

In Williams's case, we're talking at least 75 percent of the defensive snaps in each of the last three years, and in Lawrence's, at least 69 percent--including a whopping 82 percent last year--since 2021.

While both men never disappoint when it comes to being in top shape, that's still a massive workload that leads to physical breakdowns and a lack of ineffectiveness. Williams has now had to deal with injuries for two straight seasons, finally missing time last year with an assortment of injuries (most notably a neck issue).

And Lawrence, who is only 25 years old, started getting rest days in the back half of the season, given the unholy amount of snaps he was being asked to play.

The big workloads for the two players was a result of the lack of depth, which the Giants, after failing to find answers in Danny Shelton and Justin Ellis, are trying Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A'Shawn Robinson, formerly with the Bucs and Rams, respectively.

Nunez-Roches finished last season with 21 stops, five fewer than Williams in 139 fewer snaps. Robinson, who had an injury shortened-season due to a knee injury, had 44 stops for the Rams in 2021. 

Also in the mix for some snaps in relief of Lawrence and Williams include Ryder Anderson, whom defensive line coach Andre Patterson said bulked up to over 300 pounds this off-season, rookie Jordon Riley, and second-year player D.J. Davidson.

Just as the Giants have been struggling to get the right offensive line combination, so too have they struggled with finding a solid defensive line rotation. On paper, they appear to finally have found the answer.

More Slot Options

Darnay Holmes has been the Giants' slot cornerback since being drafted in the fourth round in 2020 out of UCLA. Yet every year, it seems the team has been looking to get better--or is that bigger?--at that position.

Last year, Holmes finished with an 85.8 coverage rating, seventh among 24 slot corners that logged 200 coverage snaps in the position. He was the team's primary slot cornerback, and despite what it looked like at times, he wasn't a complete disaster. 

His tackling was solid, and he did a good enough job of blowing up receiver screens late in the year. While not as effective as a blitzer, he attacked with aggressiveness coaches will sign up for every day.

But the fact remains that he struggled in one-on-one coverages and ended up leading the team last year in penalties, most of his being of the "handsy" types, which were called after he was beaten off the line. 

By the way, all of that is part of a 38-tackle season, which is a career-high for the former Bruin.

With all that said, the Giants have a classic "good problem" on their hands at cornerback. Their projected starting perimeter guys will be Adoree' Jackson and rookie Deonte Banks, leaving young veterans Cor'Dale Flott and Aaron Robinson to find a role for themselves.

Both players, by the way, just so happen to have experience playing in the slot from their college days. Both also have better size than the 5-foo-10 Holmes. So wouldn't it stand to reason that, if you're the Giants defensive coaches, instead of going with one smaller guy for all the slot snaps, you mix and match based on what the opponent is lining up across from you?

More Expansive Blitzes

Martindale loves to be aggressive, and that was evident last year when the Giants finished with the highest blitz percentage (39.7 percent) in the league. While the Giants finished in the top 10 in total pressures (155, sixth in the league), which wasn't bad, there is always room for improvement.

One such way would be to have the defensive backs generate more pressure on pass rushes. Last year, Jason Pinnock led the defensive backs in pressures generated with 23.4, followed by Xavier McKinney(20.4 percent). Nick McCloud and Darnay Holmes each produced about 15 percent pressure with their pass rushes.

The Giants, remember, didn't add anyone new to their outside linebacker corps, the unit that most people expect to generate the bulk of the pass rush. So it wouldn't be surprising if Martindale opens up the blitz menu a bit wider and starts sending more guys from the defensive secondary to try to create more disruption.

 

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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