There haven’t been many positives for the New York Giants here in 2024 thus far. At 2-5 and appearing directionless, fans are finding fewer and fewer things to root for.
One positive has been the play of their peerless nose tackle, Dexter Lawrence, who is performing at a historic rate for an NFL interior defensive lineman.
Dexter Lawrence has been double-teamed on 63.3% of his pass rushes this season, the highest rate faced by any player since at least 2018 (min. 100 pass rushes).
Lawrence currently leads the NFL in sacks (9).@Giants | #Giants100 pic.twitter.com/eimnjegPZc
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 21, 2024
Lawrence is virtually unblockable. Teams are smartening up after getting ravaged by him and he is double-teamed on nearly every snap. When he is off the field, the Giants are a different defense and are susceptible to big plays.
However, when Lawrence is on the field, he’s an entirely different animal than anyone else in the league — even while being double-teamed.
See if you can find Dexter Lawrence pic.twitter.com/QA712KhI1p
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 21, 2024
On Sunday, in the Giants’ lopsided loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at home, Lawrence racked up five tackles and two more sacks, raising his season total to nine — the most in the NFL.
Lawrence is, by far, the best pass-rushing interior lineman in the league. Through seven weeks, no other interior defender has more than four sacks. That’s less than half of Lawrence’s total.
.@giants @agentdexy97 with one of the few highlights on the afternoon. He leads the NFL with 9 sacks after 7 weeks #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/OSg9cmsNyx
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 21, 2024
Lawrence is not only productive, he is durable. He has played 76 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps in 2024. For a 6-foot-4, 340-pound man that is quite a workload.
There is no question that when the NFL Honors are announced after this season, Lawrence’s name will be mentioned for Defensive Player of the Year.
