Big Blue View
GM Joe Schoen has never added premium talent to the position
Co-owner John Mara made his displeasure with the New York Giants’ 2024 defense clear the day he announced that GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll would return for the 2025 season.
“I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara said at the time. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed.”
Those improvements did not start with firing defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. He will, to the surprise of some, be back for a second season. The Giants did replace secondary coaches Jerome Henderson and Mike Treier with Marquand Manuel.
The place the Giants must start in upgrading their defense, though, is the defensive line.
The Giants did not defend the run well in 2024. In truth, they have not defended the run well since finishing ninth in the league in yards per rushing attempt allowed (4.1) in 2020. Since then, they have finished 22nd, 31st, 31st and 24th.
There are myriad reasons for that. In 2024, though, one of the biggest reasons was lack of depth on the defensive line.
Schoen traded Leonard Williams to the Seattle Seahawks at the 2023 NFL Trade Deadline, a justifiable move that gave the Giants draft and financial resources to land edge defender Brian Burns. They lost veteran run-stopping defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson in free agency last offseason.
The only noteworthy addition to the defensive tackle rotation was Elijah Chatman, an undrafted free agent who did not play a full-time role until injuries necessitated that over the final few games.
The defensive line is, in fact, an area that Schoen has given short-shrift in his time as GM. The highest draft pick he has used on a defensive lineman is a fifth-round pick (147th overall) on D.J. Davidson in 2022. The biggest free agent signing has been Rakeem Nunez-Roches, a rotational run stopper forced to play far too many snaps in 2024.
That lack of attention to the defensive line must change. The best teams build deep defensive line rotations filled with players who are assets when they are on the field. The Giants have not done that.
It seems unlikely that the Giants would use the third overall pick in the draft on Mason Graham, commonly considered the best defensive tackle in the draft. The Giants must, though, look for upgrades on the line. It would behoove them to use both the free agent and draft markets to bolster the roster.
(2025 cap hit in parenthesis)
Dexter Lawrence ($23.840M)
Rakeem Nunez-Roches ($5.033M)
Elijah Chatman ($960,000)
D.J. Davidson ($1.188M)
Jordon Riley ($1.050M)
Casey Rogers ($960,000)
Elijah Garcia ($1.030M)
Cory Durden ($1.030M)
Ross Blacklock ($1.030M)
Pending free agents
Armon Watts (UFA)
Nunez-Roches, as we discussed...
