The New York Giants hope to get back to their winning ways in 2024 after a 6-11 finish last season.
Their defense took a step back last year under coordinator Wink Martindale, landing in the bottom quarter of the league in points (23.9) and yards (361.7) allowed per game.
In addition, the Giants had just 34 sacks as a team but were second in interceptions (18).
New coordinator Shane Bowen has plenty to work with in his first season at the helm but will need several things to go his way and several players to mature into prominent roles.
Here are five defensive X-factors needed for success in 2024.
The scheme change
Martindale’s scheme of constant movement up front and pressure on the line of scrimmage was perhaps too much for the Giants’ young personnel to achieve any consistency. They were exposed at the middle and back ends while not making much of an impression in the way of sacks.
Bowen will provide a more stable approach by rushing four up front and allowing the back seven to settle into their more traditional roles, leading to fewer big plays.
“We’re probably not going to blitz as much as we did in the past,” general manager Joe Schoen said earlier this year. “But we’re going to be very sound, it’s going to be very similar to what they did in Tennessee. I think the up-field pass rush is going to be more of a premium versus the read-and-react. Maybe a little bit less man coverage, but we are going to be physical, fast and we’re going to be sound in our assignments.”
Kayvon Thibodeaux breaking out
Kayvon Thibodeaux has shown much more versatility than many had expected in his first two seasons. Many saw him as a pure pass rusher coming into the league. He upped his sack total from four as a rookie to 11.5 last season but his all-around play is what excites the Giants.
He will be counted on to continue to rush the passer but the addition of Brian Burns will take some of the pressure off him. This should allow Thibodeaux to reach his full potential at outside linebacker and become the league-wide star he was destined to become as the fifth overall selection in the draft two years ago.
A rookie will be asked to fill big shoes
The Giants let Xavier McKinney, who played every defensive snap at safety last season, walk in free agency this offseason leaving a large hole in the middle of the secondary.
They lucked into Tyler Nubin in the second round of this year’s draft and are counting on him to serve as a stabilizing force in their defensive backfield going forward. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban called Nubin ‘the best safety in this draft’.
Cor'Dale Flott gets his chance to shine
The drafting of Andru Phillips to fill the role of slot corner means that Cor’Dale Flott will be pushed out to the boundary to flank last year’s top pick, Deonte Banks, to create a solid pair of corners for the Giants on the edge.
Flott is a long, lean body that doesn’t quite fit the prototype at nearly 6-foot-2 and less than 180 pounds. That matters not to the Giants, who are sure he can not succeed, but excel, in his new role.
“The young man is a worker, a conscientious kid, he wants to do right, he wants to play well, he’s naturally tough,” Giants secondary Jerome Henderson said. “If he was 200 pounds, he would be hell on wheels.”
Phillips can be the best pick in this draft
The Giants are excited about their draft this year. They nabbed three weapons for the offense in Malik Nabers, Theo Johnson and Tyron Tracy Jr., and Nubin to help run the defense. But their third-round pick, the aforementioned slot corner Andru Phillips, may be the jewel in the crown.
PFF’s Trevor Sikkema named Phillips the best pick in the third round of this year’s NFL draft:
“His career-best 23 defensive stops led all SEC cornerbacks in 2023, and his 72.9 PFF coverage grade was also the best mark of his career.”
