D.J. Reader and the Giants' Revamped Front Seven Look to Finally Fix the Run Defense

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.

That’s the unofficial mantra of the New York Giants run defense, which for the last five seasons has ranked at or near the bottom of the league, and which has been a major problem that no one seems to have been able to figure out.

What’s particularly perplexing about the Giants’ run game struggles of the past is that New York had defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence in the lineup for most of those seasons. But in retrospect, that might have been the problem–the Giants had Lawrence and not much else supporting him either while he was in the game or when he was given a breather.

With Lawrence now in Cincinnati, the Giants have revamped their entire front seven in hopes of getting it back on track, realizing that a solid run defense will give the pass rush more opportunities to do its thing.

Leading the way for the Giants’ revamped run defense up front is 10-year veteran D.J. Reader, who takes over as the nose guard/defensive tackle for Lawrence.

Reader has never posted a PFF run defense grade lower than 61.7 in his career. Since 2020, he boasts an impressive 14.1% tackle rate against the run on first downs, which includes seven tackles for loss.

“That's one of those things I take pride in as a nose guard—it's part of the game that everybody can get involved in,” he said about the run defense.

Reader won’t be alone in trying to rebuild a run defense that has aimed to be like a human brick wall but which has been more like a sieve. Competing to join him up front are Darius Alexander, Leki Fotu, Josh Tupou, Sam Roberts, Zacch Pickens, and Bobby Jamison-Travis.

Behind him are two brand new projected starters at inside linebackers in veteran Tremaine Edmunds and rookie draft pick Arvell Reese. And behind those guys, the Giants are hoping to get better play from the defensive backs in run support.

“It's going to take everybody's effort to build that wall, force things back inside to your bigger guys, let things roll up top to your corners who can tackle,” Reader said. “It’s one of those things that takes effort from everybody. If you’re bought in, you can stop the run.”

As Reader noted, the Giants have a strong pass rush consisting of outside linebackers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Add in defensive lineman/outside linebacker Chauncey Golston and Reese to the picture, and there is no reason why opposing offenses should feel as though they’ll have an advantage against the Giants defense in 2026.

That’s why head coach John Harbaugh has insisted on rebuilding the team’s run defense, to give those pass rushers opportunities to dominate and, more importantly, get off the field on third down, something the Giants struggled to do last year.

“When you've got edges like how we have edges, I think you want to be able to stop the run. That way those guys can really, truly get after the passer. Let the multitude of guys you've got that can rush get after the quarterback, drop in coverage, play good pass defense,” Reader said.

“You want to be able to stop the run on early downs; that way you can get those guys out there and get yourself back off the field and get into the offense. That's the most important thing in the game, getting the ball back into the offense, stealing possessions, being able to get the ball back to them so they can be good.”

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