Giants Defense Aims to Earn the Right to Rush the Passer

The Giants run defense needs to vastly improve on first and second downs if they are to show off their improved pass rush.

Bobby Okereke, inside linebacker with the NY Giants, agrees that the Giants need to "earn the right" to rush the passer. | Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s easy for the New York Giants and their fan base to get all excited about the additions made to the pass rush while still forgetting that it really won’t matter unless the defense can stop the run.

Therein lies perhaps the Giants' biggest challenge, outside of obviously trying to figure out how to get as many of their pass rushers on the field at once. 

“What we say is you've got to earn the right to rush the passer,” said inside linebacker Bobby Okereke. “That’s being dominant on first and second down, creating TFLs (tackles for loss), getting knocked back up front, playing downhill at the linebacker position.”

Such has not been the case for the Giants. According to NFL Savant, the Giants' run defense allowed 1,139 rushing yards on first down, an average of 4.3 yards per rushing attempt. 

Of that yardage, 934 yards came even before contact was made, according to data gathered from Pro Football Focus.

Second down wasn't much better for Big Blue. Last year, the Giants allowed 690 rushing yards on that down for an average of 4.6 yards per carry. And of that yardage total, 496 yards came before contact was made. 

Missed tackles–18 of them in the run game per PFF–and just 56 stops haven’t helped matters. Guys not named Dexter Lawrence II struggling to get off solo blocking also didn’t help.

New faces, new schemes coming this fall

New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (left) needs some help around him regarding the run defense. | Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

And that’s all why general manager Joe Schoen made a conscious effort to add a lot of defensive line depth to the roster, in the offseason, the hope being that buys can shed blocks and stop the bleeding on first and second downs to set up obvious passing situations for the improved pass rush to be turned loose. 

The new talent, Okereke said, has resulted in a few tweaks to the run defense, particularly up front.

“We got some new, dynamic pieces up front that can create some havoc and create some knockback, but I feel like it’s just guys understanding the details of their position, the details of the job,” he said. 

“(Defensive coordinator) Shane (Bowen) is a schematic mastermind, so I feel like, as we’re going through these practices and we’re understanding his philosophical mind of how he wants guys to play defense and executing the techniques and fundamentals of each position, we’re only getting better.”

Okereke said that the defense has also had a better understanding of each other’s jobs, which has improved the communication.  

“As we go through camp, and go through these practices, I feel like it’s just building that continuity of the unit where the safeties understand how the D-line is fitting, the D-line understands how the linebackers are fitting, and so on,” he said. 

“We’ve been doing great work there. The work's not done, but we’ve been very detailed throughout that process.”

What happens next with the NY Giants? Find out! Follow and like us on Facebook. Visit our YouTube channel for the latest videos. Want to send a question in for our mailbag? You can do so here.