New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence ranked as No. 2 DT in NFL

Pro Football Focus says only Chris Jones of Kansas City is better

When we write about Dexter Lawrence, we often mention that some consider the New York Giants star to be the best defensive tackle in football.

Well, according to Pro Football Focus, Lawrence is close to that. In its 2025 interior defensive line rankings, PFF has Lawrence as the No. 2 defensive tackle in the NFL behind Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs.

PFF says:

Lawrence logged only 550 snaps in 2024 due to some missed time, but he recorded an 89.0-plus PFF overall grade (89.9) for the third season in a row. His 1.07 PFF WAR over the past three years sits behind only Chris Jones at the position.

Lawrence, in fact, had an 89.9 PFF grade last season, missing by a tenth of a point of posting a 90 grade for the third straight year.

Valentine’s View

I won’t argue with the ranking of Jones as No. 1. His play, and his 1.69 PFF WAR over the past three seasons, tell you he deserves the top spot.

PFF calls Jones “a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.” I do wonder what Lawrence’s production would look like, and whether he would be considered a future first ballot Hall of Famer, if he was in the middle of the defense for a team that had gone to three straight Super Bowls, winning two of them.

The Giants have had just one winning season in the 27-year-old Lawrence’s six-year career. At 340-ish pounds, it is fair to wonder how many more years Lawrence can continue to play at this level.

Could the Giants end up wasting his best years if things don’t begin to turn around in 2025? Or, could Lawrence, with no guaranteed money on his contract past the 2025 season, tire of the losing and look to go elsewhere?