New York Giants 2025 Training Camp Preview: DL D.J. Davidson

D.J. Davidson has twice landed on IR in his three-year NFL career. Is his time with Big Blue running out?

New York Giants defensive tackle D.J. Davidson | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

No one position unit on the New York Giants received a greater influx of talent than the defensive line, a unit that, up until recently, and despite the presence of all-world nose tackle Dexter Lawerence II, had been a strength of the team.

Interestingly, the Giants, over the two offseasons before this one, sought to stock the defensive line with young depth, such as draft pick D.J. Davidson. 

In three seasons, Davidson has seen limited action, mainly thanks to a season-ending ACL injury he suffered as a rookie that limited him to just five games and a shoulder injury last season that limited him to 12 games.

Despite the injury woes, there has been enough tape to determine what Davidson is and what he isn’t. What he is is a solid depth player with a specific niche, which we’ll get to momentarily. What he hasn't shown himself to be is full-time starting material. 

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D.J. DAVIDSON, DL

• Height: 6-5
• Weight: 320  lbs.
• Exp.: 4 Years
• School: Arizona State
• How Acquired: D5-22 

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2024 in Review

Davidson suited up for the first 13 games and was having a breakout season, highlighted by a two-sack game against Seattle and an eight-tackle performance against Pittsburgh.  

Davidson was getting a heavy dose of rotational snaps when a shoulder injury on Thanksgiving ended his season. Before that, he had been showing more mobility and an attacking mentality, but he was also not accomplishing enough to stem the running game failures.  

Davidson was not shy about throwing his body around in pursuit and upfield on passing downs, but if there was a part of his game where he struggled, it was at the point of attack where he had struggled to shed blocks.

Where Davidson showed enough intrigue to warrant a continuous stream of snaps was in pass-rushing situations, where his bull rush helped him record a career-high 2.0 sacks, including an impressive hustle effort in which he chased down then-Seattle quarterback Geno Smith in the team’s second of three wins last season.  

Contract/Cap Info

Davidson is entering the final year of his four-year, $4.014 million rookie deal. He has a cap hit of $1.188 million this year. If he doesn’t make the roster, the Giants will save $1.1 million on their cap and only be hit with an $88,5330 dead money hit.

2025 Preview

The Giants brought in a lot of talent for the defensive line, including both veterans and rookie Darius Alexander, to create one of the most interesting competitions on the team this summer.

The problem Davidson faces is that last year, as part of the youth brigade at the position, the unit didn’t deliver the goods, especially after Lawrence went down with a season-ending elbow injury. 

This offseason, the Giants addressed the defensive line with veterans like Roy Robertson-Harris and Jeremiah Ledbetter, in addition to Alexander.

In short, the numbers don’t favor Davidson, and not just the roster numbers, but also his $ 1 million-plus base salary, which the cap-strapped Giants might not want to carry in addition to the veterans they have added to the roster.

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