New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: DL DJ Davidson

Can DJ Davidson turn into a valuable depth piece for the Giants in a crowded interior defensive line room?

D.J. Davidson during the combine. / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants defensive line was once considered a major strength on the team. It still is, the weight being carried by All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. 

The talent around Lawrence carries some questions, mainly due to the youth/ inexperience among them, such as D.J. Davidson. Davidson, the Giants’ fifth-round pick in 2022, was primarily a nose tackle in Arizona State’s defense, serving to clog interior running lanes and help keep linebackers and safeties clean at the second level. 

He showed some ability in college to push the pocket–in four seasons with the Sun Devils, Davidson racked up , but in his early days with the Giants, his role was to occupy blockers.

Unfortunately for Davidson, his rookie campaign was cut short due to a torn ACL suffered in Week 5. He started on the PUP list last summer but made it back, going on to see 244 defensive snaps (mostly as a run defender) on the Giants' defense.  

This spring, Davidson appears to be in a good position to have an even bigger role on the defense, having received some first-team reps.

“You can see they're comfortable with the drills. They're comfortable with the technique, and now it's time for them to take their game to a different level,” defensive line coach Andre Patterson said of Davidson as well as fellow youngsters Jrordin Riley and Ryder Anderson.

“I'm excited to see what all three of those guys can do–when we get to the point where we're playing real football, the pads are on, and we're not out here in our pajamas.

But I have a lot of confidence in all three of those guys. I think all three of those guys have a chance to be good players for us. But it comes down to when we get on the field, start playing for real, and they have to show it.”

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D.J. DAVIDSON, DL

Height: 6-3
Weight: 327 lbs.
Exp: 3
School: Arizona State
How acquired: D5-147

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2023 in Review

Davidson appeared in 15 games for the Giants last season, a big step up from his injury-shortened, five-game rookie season in 2022. Locked in something of a battle with rookie Jordon Riley last year, Davidson lost the edge.

Riley appeared in eight games to Davidson's 15 but played in 26 percent of the defensive snaps compared to his 24 percent. Davidson's snap counts began to decline later in the season once Riley was healthy. 

He ended the year with 13 tackles, two pass deflections, one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, and half a sack. 

With Davidson having lost the backup nose tackle job to Riley around mid-season, he was moved outside to defensive end, where he managed to keep his head above water. But defensive end really isn’t his best position; he's a better fit playing over the nose.

Davidson also showed that he knows how to bull rush the front of the pocket. It was hard not to like what he showed in the pursuit game when he wasn’t taking up space between the tackles. 

His challenge now is to get the better of Riley for the backup nose tackle job behind Lawrence.

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Contract Info

Davidson is still on his rookie deal. He has one of the lower cap hits on the team, as he's slated to make $1,073,530 with a base salary of $985,000.

There's no financial benefit to cutting Davidson this season, as the Giants would save $896,470 this year if they did so.

2024 Preview

If the Giants are of the opinion that nose tackle is Davidson’s best chance at a roster spot–and based on his play last year, that would make sense–Davidson will square off against Jordon Riley, last year’s seventh-round pick whose play earned him more snaps toward the latter part of the year last year. 

Davidson, as noted, knows how to bull rush the front of the pocket and he’s still pretty good in pursuit despite coming off the knee issue.

He has a big enough body to be a space eater, but if he’s to win this battle, he has to at least hold his own if inserted in place of Lawrence, something he wasn’t consistently able to do last year. 

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