Giants Country

Which Week 1 Opposing Player Would Look Good on Giants?

Which member of the Dallas Cowboys would the New York Giants steal if they could? Probably this member of the Cowboys defense.

Patricia Traina

Which Week 1 Opposing Player Would Look Good on Giants?
Which Week 1 Opposing Player Would Look Good on Giants? /
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As we count down to training camp, the Giants Country editorial team went through the rosters of each of the Giants' 2023 regular-season opponents and selected a player that, if the Giants could acquire for the upcoming season, they absolutely should. 

Who did we pick from each team? Stay tuned--and yes, for the NFC East teams, we picked two players since the Giants play them twice.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

OLB Micah Parsons

Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 245lbs.
College: Penn State| Exp: 3 seasons
Career Stats: 33 games played/33 games started. 149 total tackles, 33 tackles for a loss, 26.5 sacks 56 QBHs  

Imagine a world if the New York Giants, during the 2021 NFL draft, didn't trade out of the 11th pick with the Chicago Bears and had instead taken Penn State pass rusher Micah Parsons.

There would have been no Kadarius Toney drama with him flipping off Giants fans and the team in general after his failed brief tenure with the team--and likely with that, perhaps no Darren Waller trade since the Giants used the third-round pick they got in the Toney trade with the Chiefs to acquire the tight end from Las Vegas.

There also wouldn't have been an extra first-round draft pick (No. 7 overall) resulting in the arrival of offensive tackle Evan Neal, whom the Giants are hoping takes an Andrew Thomas-like leap in Year 2 of his career.

But there might have been a young, dynamic pass rusher named Micah Parsons donning Giants blue and becoming the first legitimate, homegrown edge rusher since the team sent Jason Pierre-Paul packing in 2018.

Instead, having traded down for Toney and the extra draft pick, the Giants saw the Dallas Cowboys, their NFC East division rivals, select PArsons with the No. 12 overall pick, one spot after where the Giants would have picked had they stayed put.

As a result, the Giants now have to face Parsons twice a year. Parsons, a two-time first-team All-Pro, and the 2021 NFL AP Defensive Rookie of the Year has racked up 13 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, and one pass breakup in four games against them.

Although the Giants have attempted to rebuild their pass rush with youngsters Azeez Ojulari, selected in the second round of the 2021 draft, and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, their combined impact thus far hasn't come close to matching what Parsons, who has at least 13 sacks in each of his first two seasons in Dallas, has done.

The two edge rushers have combined for 17.5 sacks, 112 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss, and 33 quarterback hits. To be fair, though, both have dealt with injury issues the team hopes are behind them.

But is there any doubt knowing what we know today, that had the Giants gone with Parsons over a trade down to get Toney and the extra draft pick would have helped turbocharger a pass rush that hasn't scared opponents in quite some time?

Where Would He Have Fit In?

As was the case in Dallas, Parsons would have likely been a Day 1 starter for the Giants. Parsons, a defensive end for the Nittany Lions, started his pro career as primarily an outside linebacker, where he played 55.2 percent of his defensive snaps per Pro Football Focus.

This year, he's likely to see more snaps as a defensive end, a role he started to play more of last season, seeing 81.1 of his defensive snaps there.

Parsons isn't just a one-trick pony, either. He told The Athletic he will play "like eight positions this year," including some coverage, as Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn looks to optimize matchups.

Just imagine what Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale might have been able to do with having Parsons on his defense.

Parsons added some bulk in the off-season to help him improve his explosiveness off the line of scrimmage and to further strengthen his body against the nagging injuries that can slow a player down.

Ojulari, who you might remember, did the same thing last year but didn't have luck with staving off injuries after adding bulk to his frame.

While Parsons would have been a great player to have in retrospect, the Giants are hoping that the Ojulari-Thibodeaux duo will get untracked this season, forcing opponents to pick their poison.

 

 

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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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