Breaking Down Giants OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux's Week 2 Film

Kayvon Thibodeaux came up empty on the stat sheet last week, but not for the reasons you might think. Coach Gene Clemons has the breakdown.

Author:
Gene Clemons
Publish date:
Sep 20, 2023 2:40 PM EDT

In this story:

New York Giants

There was praise for many involved in an epic team turnaround during the second half, which led to a New York Giants victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

But one person who did not receive credit for his play was outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, who received criticism for failing to dent the stat sheet.

Thibodeaux defended his play, stating that in doing his job in the defense, there were few opportunities to make plays. Many scoffed at this notion, but it was interesting reasoning given by the second-year edge rusher.

We often don’t consider the role the defender plays in the scheme can play as large of a role in their inability to show up on a stat sheet as their individual play can.

Some interesting things were discovered after breaking down every snap of every series Thibodeaux participated in during the first half of last Sunday’s performance. The goal was to get a legitimate understanding of why the results may not have shown up on the stat sheet, and after studying the film, it seems as if Thibodeaux not only has a point but also brings into question his deployment in this defense.

Series No. 1

The opening series was six plays, and Thibodeaux participated in all six. Two of the plays were run plays that both went away from Thibodeaux. The other four plays were passes, and things got interesting here.

The first two pass plays left Thibodeaux dropping into coverage. That was an interesting choice because he is the only legitimate outside rusher active in the game.

The next two passes left Thibodeaux double-teamed. The first of the two, he was double-teamed by two tight ends, and the second was a tackle and the running back. In short, there were zero opportunities to statistically impact the game.

Series No. 2

The second series was a nine-play drive that ended in the Cardinals' first touchdown of the day. During that drive, the Cardinals ran the ball five times. Four of those five rushes were away from Thibodeaux.

The fifth play was an inside zone away from Thibodeaux, where the Cardinals sent a tight end backside to kick out the linebacker. He squeezed and wrong-armed the play but was held by the tight end, and the back could get through the hole for positive yards.

Of the four passing plays, Thibodeaux was once again in coverage on one play and double-teamed on another. The other two passing plays were play-action that forced him to play the run first, and the quarterback threw the ball quickly. That is maybe one play to make a statistical play during that series.

Series No. 3

The third series was seven plays that ended in a touchdown. It was more of the same against the run. The Cardinals called two designed run plays, and both went away from Thibodeaux.

There were five passing plays called. Thibodeaux has two legitimate opportunities to rush the passer after dropping into coverage on a pass and two other passing attempts where the quarterback got rid of the ball in less than three seconds.

On the first, he came off the edge, and instead of trusting his speed rush around, he tried to spin back inside and gave the quarterback a chance to run away from him. It was not the most technical or fundamentally sound attempt.

When he trusted his speed rush and ran around, the quarterback could escape through the vacated B-gap when Rakeem Nunez-Roches took an inside move on the guard. That play resulted in the touchdown scramble when it probably would have been a sack if the interior was in place.

Series No. 4

The fourth series went for nine plays and yielded a field goal. Thibodeaux played all nine snaps. They ran the ball six times during this series and only at Thibodeaux once. That play was a counter to Thibodeaux's side. He squeezed down, took on the pulling guard, and allowed his teammates to make the play for a minimal gain.

Thibodeaux again spent one of the three passing attempts in coverage, and the other two passing plays were quick passes. There still was not much opportunity to make a statistical impact at this point.

Series No. 5

The final defensive series of the half was six plays, resulting in three points for Arizona. None of these plays gave Thibodeaux a chance to shine.

The three rushes were all away from him, and the three passing plays were all quick passes, two outside quick screens, and a sit route in the middle of the field.

If you are keeping count, that is 37 total plays for Thibodeaux in the first half-- 16 of the 18 running plays went away from him, and for the other two, he was fighting off pull and kick blocks.

There were 19 pass attempts. He was in coverage in five of those plays and double-teamed three other times. Nine other passing plays were either play-action or quick passes.

That left only two legitimate opportunities for the only explosive edge rusher to rush the passer. Without Azeez Ojulari on the field, teams will send double teams Thibodeaux’s way, as is the only exterior threat.

Five times, he was not a threat because the scheme called for him not to be. When you have an edge threat on both sides of the line, you can afford to drop one in coverage, but when there is only one, you get no outside pressure on the quarterback, making it easy for the quarterback to negate the interior pressure.

Final Thoughts

Coaches talk all the time about what players do that doesn’t show up in the stat sheets and most simply chalk it up as “coach speak,” but there’s legitimacy to those words in this case. Thibodeaux was their manifestation in the first half and throughout the entire game.