Once a Concern, the Giants Pass Rush is Thriving after 6 Weeks
The Giants defensive players and coaches heard repeatedly in the off-season and preseason about how they would take a step backward in terms of their pass rush after trading away edge Olivier Vernon to the Cleveland Browns.
But rather than try to argue with the naysayers, the Giants defense put their collective heads down and went to work to prove to their critics that their pass rush would be just fine.
They added edge Markus Golden on a one-year contract. They also turned the two draft picks they acquired from the Browns in the Odell beck ham Jr trade into edge rusher Oshane Ximines, a third-round draft selection, and defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence at pick No. 17 overall, and banked on second-year man Lorenzo Carter coming back healthy and more settled in his role as an NFL edge rusher.
Thus far, the gambles have paid off. After six weeks of play, the Giants pass rushing “village” is light years ahead of last year’s group. Through six weeks, the Giants defense, according to Pro Football Focus, has 96 total pressures, compared to the 27 posted after six games in 2018.
And of those pressures, the Giants have posted 16 sacks so far this season versus the six they had at this point last year, and more than half of their 2018 season total (30).
“We’ve made improvements. I think that was a big topic of conversation through training camp, how we were going to create pass rush,” said head coach Pat Shurmur.
“I think, if anything, we’ve shown flashes of being a good football team, and then I still think we’re inconsistent in a lot of areas, but we’re starting to create some rush. We’ve got to do it consistently, but it’s improved.”
Golden, in particular, has been as focused as he's ever been. He signed a one-year “prove it” deal with the Giants to prove to the NFL that his season-ending knee injury from 2017 is no longer an issue, is off to a promising start in showing that he can be the same guy he was in 2016 with the Cardinals when his career-high 12.5 sacks tied him for third in league with Buffalo’s Lorenzo Alexander and Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter that season
Through six games, Golden has 5.0 sacks, one shy of the 6.0 sacks he set in his first six games of his 2016 breakout season.
“I’m all about working, so I worked hard this offseason,” Golden said. “I worked in OTA’s, and even in camp, I just worked hard. When you put in the work that I was making sure I put in every day and making sure I was taking care of my body even better than I was before the injury, yes, I was confident in myself no matter what. You have to be confident in yourself, especially if you are working hard.”
Then there’s been Lawrence, the precocious rookie defender who is tied for the team lead with ten hurries (with fellow defensive lineman B.J. Hill). Lawrence, whom the Giants were looking to help push the pocket up the middle, has done just that and then some.
“Big Dex is an animal out there,” said Golden, who also gave kudos to the Giants other members of the defensive front, including Hill and Dalvin Tomlinson.
“(Lawrence) really stood out on film as far as running to the ball, pushing the pocket and flying around. I’m excited for all of them, but Big Dex is making a big jump.”
Like Shurmur, Golden believes that the next step for the Giants defense, and in particular the pass rush is consistency.
“I feel like we can show that we can keep doing it and come out and compete week to week,” he said. “We want to keep taking it one week at a time, but we want to come out and be consistent each week.
