Why Lawrence Taylor is the New York Giants’ Greatest NFL Draft Pick of All Time

The NFL draft has been around since 1936, though it’s undergone several transformations in terms of length, presentation, and media coverage since those very early days.

But in those 89 years since the process was instituted, there has been just one draft pick made by the in their history that stands head and shoulders above everyone else for the title of best draft pick in franchise history, and it was a pick that the Giants happened to land by luck.

The pick, of course, is outside linebacker Lawrence Taylor–”LT” to scores of Giants fans who had the chance to see him play when he first came to the team in 1981 out of the University of North Carolina.

The Hall of Fame linebacker was simply the greatest defensive player to ever live, not just because of what he did for the Giants’ defenses of the 1980s, but because his impact on the game was so great that his presence forced some of the greatest minds of the game to invent new ways to slow him down.

We’ll get to that in a moment, but it’s worth retelling the story about how Taylor almost didn’t become a member of the Giants.

Fate intervened

Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor at the Giants training camp at Pace University in Pleasantville August 14, 1983. | Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK

Before the 1981 draft, was conducted among the then 28 NFL club general managers about who the consensus top overall pick in that year’s class was.

Twenty-six general managers voted for Taylor, leaving just two, including the New Orleans Saints, who held the first overall pick in the draft that year, who voted for South Carolina running back George Rogers.

Sure enough, when the draft rolled around, the Saints, first up on the clock and headed by general manager Bum Phillips, selected Rogers, leaving the Giants, who had the second overall pick that year, to snatch Taylor.

The rest was history.

Rogers, who had a productive NFL career, played for the Saints until 1984 before finishing his career with Washington in 1987. During his career, the two-time Pro Bowler achieved a Super Bowl championship (XXII) and was named the 1981 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after leading the league in rushing as a rookie.

Rogers, the 1980 Heisman Trophy winner, was also named a first-team All-Pro in 1981 and would lead the league in rushing touchdowns in 1986 with Washington.

Despite those credentials, Rogers received only one Hall of Fame nod, from the New Orleans Saints.

Taylor Changed the Game

Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Former New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor on the field before the game between the Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

LT’s career, by contrast, was far more of a success, starting with the fact that he played his entire 13-year career with the Giants (despite a brief flirtation with joining the New Jersey Generals of the USFL after the 1983 season when he was granted a $1 million, interest-free loan by Generals owner Donald Trump.

The union never took place, and Taylor’s No. 56 retired after he called it a career in 1993, but he continued to terrorize opposing quarterbacks.

Taylor was such a force that his presence prompted some of the game's greatest coaching minds during that era to devise new ways to slow him down.

Washington head coach Joe Gibbs, for instance, came up with the one-back offense, which saw him add on the field with the hopes of slowing down Taylor’s frenzied pass rush.

And Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers decided to deploy a guard to block Taylor in the 1981 postseason. That task fell to guard John Ayers, the 49ers' best blocking offensive lineman.

Though the 49ers didn’t keep Taylor off the stat sheet–he recorded five tackles and a sack in that game- the strategy did limit his effectiveness as the 49ers beat the Giants 38-24 in the NFC divisional playoffs.

By the time Taylor, whose legendary toughness further made him a folk hero not just among Giants fans but also across the NFL landscape, finished his career, the 1981 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winner had helped Big Blue win two Super Bowl championships (1986 and 1990).

Taylor also won the MVP award in 1986, was a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year winner (1981, 1982, and 1986), an eight-time first-team All-Pro, a two-time second-team All-Pro, a 10-time Pro Bowler, and the NFL sacks leader in 1986.

In addition to his Hall of Fame induction in 1999 on the first ballot, Taylor’s legend was further enhanced by his toughness, such as when, in 1988, he played through in a game against the Saints in which he registered seven tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles in a 13-12 Giants victory.

He finished his career with 132.5 sacks, a number that would have been higher had sacks been an official stat in his rookie season, when he had 9.5 takedowns of the quarterback.

Taylor also recorded 1,08 tackles, 33 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, and nine interceptions, all of which made him the unquestioned best draft pick the Giants have ever made.