Two Giants Defenders Honored by PFF
Say what one wants about the New York Giants and the abysmal display of football that they put on the field in 2024, but the pass rush might have been the saving grace from an even more disastrous outlook for the franchise.
While the Giants weren’t looking very competitive on the offensive side from the start, they were hoisted up in several close-losing affairs thanks to the start and finish of their defensive front, which had a pretty active season, getting after the quarterback and creating pressures.
Headlined by All-Pro caliber defender Dexter Lawrence II and outside linebacker Brian Burns, the unit delivered at one of the best early in the NFL and grew stronger by the week until the injury bug began to take its toll. Production slowed down until rounding back into some semblance of form in the final quarter of the season.
Even with their run of not sniffing the backfield, the Giants could maintain one of the top-level pass-rushing operations in the sport. That was credited to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, who came in with a slightly different philosophy than his predecessor in Wink Martindale and found ways to make it work with his assets on the first line of attack.
With the 2024 stint behind them, the fruits of his main players’ labors have been acknowledged among the premier pass-rushing competition. Lawrence and Burns were named to PFF’s annual list of the top 20 pass rushers for their dynamic tandem, which ended among the NFC's highest-rated ones.
Lawrence, the revered nose tackle who dominated his way to a career and team-high nine sacks with 44 total tackles, rounded off the first 20 names with a 12.5% pass-rush win rate and 36 overall pressures in a shortened season due to an elbow injury.
Four slots above him and fifth on the conference side finished Burns, who went on to trail his teammate by half a sack yet generated a higher pass-rushing grade of 82.8 while winning 14.4 percent on 61 total pressures in his first full 17-game campaign with New York.
The two defensive behemoths were partnered on the Giants roster this past offseason as the team sought to build an athletic front four pressure package in Bowen’s system that would flash unique skill sets in response to both phases of opposing offenses.
Their talents would each impact the run and passing obstruction and push the Giants defense to one of the fastest 36 sack totals in the first half of the regular season, including a season-high eight sacks in the win against the Browns and then seven over the Seahawks and Colts in Weeks 5 and 17, respectively, both extra victories for New York.
Lawrence, who has cemented himself as the centerpiece of the team’s defense for years to come, was the big and brutal facilitator in the run response. He utilized his immense size and strength to press the offensive line backward and often swallowed up rushing lanes to stuff ball carriers for minimal to negative gains.
What set his game apart from the crowd in the first two months was his ability to dominate with the constant obstacle of double teams, as Lawrence was one of the league’s most efficient players against two blockers. Despite facing them on as much as 63.3 percent of his rushing snaps at one point in the year, he defeated most en route to eight tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
The unfortunate part was that his elbow injury would kick in Week 13 against Dallas, and what could have been a larger output was silenced until 2025. Still, Burns would take the baton and fuel the Giants' pass rush to the final whistle.
After the Giants went silent for a four-game stretch, he reinvigorated his arsenal of swim moves to control one-on-one matchups on the edge. As the main face of the defense from Weeks 14-18, he notched 2.5 sacks and 19 total pressures and helped the team tally 12 quarterback takedowns in the same span.
It wasn’t the most ordinary debut for a player who had three seasons with at least 9.0 sacks and six forced turnovers in Carolina. Still, he found the groove the Giants hoped to get when they paid lucrative to acquire last spring at both ends of a dismal year to help offshoot the franchise’s woeful offensive production and give a taste of what could return in 2025 with a fully healthy roster.
And that’s the promise of what lies ahead for the Giants if that last part holds. Despite all the odds stacked against their relatively young unit, they found a way to make life difficult for the opposition. They made 45 total sacks that ranked in the NFL’s top 10 and earned respect for the work of their talented front four that flashed at times in a system that relies on them.
Lawrence, Burns, and the company will certainly make more progress next fall. Still, they have discovered a core they can build around as the Giants project to be a team with a young offense and potentially a quarterback that will live or die off the success of their accompanying top-heavy defense against route competition next season.