A year ago, the New York Giants struggled to rush the passer, finishing the season with just 30 sacks, which tied them with the New England Patriots for second-to-last in the league. Only the Oakland Raiders (13) fared worse.
In an effort to rectify the team’s pass rushing woes, Giants general manager Dave Gettleman went out and signed Markus Golden and Olsen Pierre this offseason, while drafting the likes of Dexter Lawrence and Oshane Ximines to aid in sack production.
Will it be enough? Not in the eyes of Pro Football Focus, who believe the Giants’ pass rush will once again be among the league’s worst.
30. NEW YORK GIANTS
Getting rid of Olivier Vernon isn’t going to do the Giants’ pass-rush any favors. The rest of the edge group in New York last season outside of Vernon totaled all of 64 pressures.
While Vernon did generate quite a bit of pressure for the Giants, he often failed to bring down the quarterback and had developed a propensity for injury, missing nine games over his final two seasons in blue. And even in the games he did play, his success came in bursts and lacked any sort of game-by-game consistency.
With the likes of Golden and Lawrence, the Giants hope to create a more consistent level of pressure from both the inside and on the outside, with the former becoming increasingly important in today’s quick-release NFL.
