The New York Giants sported the best interior 1-2 punch last season with nose tackle Dexter Lawrence and defensive lineman Leonard Williams, but they needed to add more this offseason.
Lawrence and Williams, who dealt with injury issues last year, were taking entirely too many snaps. Beyond just that, the Giants struggled in stopping the run.
All of that left general manager Joe Schoen feeling uncomfortable, so he went out and added defensive linemen A’Shawn Robinson and Rakeem Nunez-Roches via free agency, and also selected nose tackle Jordon Riley in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL draft.
That was more than enough to sell those over at ESPN, who recently ranked the Giants’ interior defensive line the best in all of football.
The Giants’ defense struggled last season (28th overall and 29th against the run in EPA), which was disappointing considering they have one of the league’s top interior D-lines on paper. Leonard Williams is a certified superstar and Dexter Lawrence II was arguably better in 2022 (only Chris Jones had a higher PFF grade). Rakeem Nunez-Roches and underrated A’Shawn Robinson were solid offseason additions and will play sizable roles.
The Giants edged out the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins to claim the No. 1 spot.
Although they didn’t have any other No. 1 rankings, ESPN did rank the Giants’ quarterbacks No. 13 overall, their running backs No. 10 overall, and their tight ends No. 3 overall.
Overall, as a team, the Giants checked in at No. 19 overall.
