The New York Giants invested heavily in their defense this offseason using six of their 11 draft picks and making numerous free agent signings on defensive players.
What their defense will look like in 2022 is anyone’s guess but the pass rush should be much improved with rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux joining the likes of Leonard Williams and Azeez Ojulari on the defensive front.
All one needed to know about first-year defensive coordinator Wink Martindale was answered quickly during his presser on Thursday at the team’s OTA.
“You want to dictate to the offense instead of sitting there and letting them dictate to you,” Martindale said. “I think this is a game of adjustments and matchups and everything else, but I would rather them have the headache and stay up five nights before we play them figuring out what we’re going to do and try to present different looks every time we play — because pressure does break pipes — that’s our philosophy.
“You have a great quarterback, you want him to be able to make quick decisions that you’re going against and if you have an average quarterback, you want him to change up your different looks coverage-wise and everything else but at the end of the day, you want the quarterback on his back. I don’t care if he throws it or not, but if you can just get quarterback hits, they know who they are playing against.”
The Giants’ pass rush was ranked 21st in the league last year and that simply isn’t going to cut it. Not in Martindale’s book, anyhow. He’s confident his unit will be a force t be reckoned with.
“Look, we’ll control the narrative. That’s what I’ll tell you. We control the narrative. People can say what they want to say. We’ll see when it’s time to kick it off down there in Nashville, we’ll see where we’re going to be at by then. But we control the narrative in the room, and I’m excited about this this season,” he said.
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