Fixing the Giants, Part 2: Defensive line has to become a priority

GM Joe Schoen has never added premium talent to the position

Co-owner John Mara made his displeasure with the New York Giants’ 2024 defense clear the day he announced that GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll would return for the 2025 season.

“I didn’t think our defense played very well this year at all,” Mara said at the time. “I know that when you have an offense that performs like that, you’re putting more pressure on your defense. But we need to make improvements there. I’m tired of watching teams go up and down the field on us. So, I think that has to be addressed.”

Those improvements did not start with firing defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. He will, to the surprise of some, be back for a second season. The Giants did replace secondary coaches Jerome Henderson and Mike Treier with Marquand Manuel.

The place the Giants must start in upgrading their defense, though, is the defensive line.

The Giants did not defend the run well in 2024. In truth, they have not defended the run well since finishing ninth in the league in yards per rushing attempt allowed (4.1) in 2020. Since then, they have finished 22nd, 31st, 31st and 24th.

There are myriad reasons for that. In 2024, though, one of the biggest reasons was lack of depth on the defensive line.

Schoen traded Leonard Williams to the Seattle Seahawks at the 2023 NFL Trade Deadline, a justifiable move that gave the Giants draft and financial resources to land edge defender Brian Burns. They lost veteran run-stopping defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson in free agency last offseason.

The only noteworthy addition to the defensive tackle rotation was Elijah Chatman, an undrafted free agent who did not play a full-time role until injuries necessitated that over the final few games.

The defensive line is, in fact, an area that Schoen has given short-shrift in his time as GM. The highest draft pick he has used on a defensive lineman is a fifth-round pick (147th overall) on D.J. Davidson in 2022. The biggest free agent signing has been Rakeem Nunez-Roches, a rotational run stopper forced to play far too many snaps in 2024.

That lack of attention to the defensive line must change. The best teams build deep defensive line rotations filled with players who are assets when they are on the field. The Giants have not done that.

It seems unlikely that the Giants would use the third overall pick in the draft on Mason Graham, commonly considered the best defensive tackle in the draft. The Giants must, though, look for upgrades on the line. It would behoove them to use both the free agent and draft markets to bolster the roster.

Current roster

(2025 cap hit in parenthesis)

Dexter Lawrence ($23.840M)
Rakeem Nunez-Roches ($5.033M)
Elijah Chatman ($960,000)
D.J. Davidson ($1.188M)
Jordon Riley ($1.050M)
Casey Rogers ($960,000)
Elijah Garcia ($1.030M)
Cory Durden ($1.030M)
Ross Blacklock ($1.030M)

Pending free agents

Armon Watts (UFA)

Nunez-Roches, as we discussed Sunday, is a cut candidate. He might be nice to keep as a fourth or fifth lineman playing limited snaps, but the Giants are probably better served to take the $3.6 million in cap savings from cutting him and look for a younger, more impactful player in free agency.

In emergency action at the end of the season, Garcia showed flashes of useful play. Perhaps his length and athleticism give him a chance to make the roster in 2025.

Davidson and Jordon Riley appear to be little more than replaceable parts. I would, honestly, be actively trying to find upgrades.

Photo by Ryan Kang/Getty Images

Potential free agent targets

SB Nation 2025 free agent defensive tackle rankings:

8. Leki Fotu
7. Calais Campbell
6. Levi Onwuzurike
5. Milton Williams
4. Adam Butler
3. Osa Odighizuwa
2. D.J. Jones
1. B.J. Hill

Pro Football Focus free agent defensive tackle rankings:

Osa Odighizuwa (No. 30 overall free agent)
Milton Williams (No. 32)
Levi Onwuzurike (No. 40)
B.J. Hill (No. 52)
Jarran Reed (No. 75)
Poona Ford (No. 76)
Tershawn Wharton (No. 82)
Teair Tart (No. 84)
D.J. Jones (No. 97)

I would be all-in on a reunion with Hill, a 2018 third-round pick by the Giants who was foolishly traded for center Billy Price in 2021. PFF estimates a value of two years, $20.5 million ($12 million guaranteed) for the 29-year-old Hill. PFF says “Hill is still a solid all-around player.”

SB Nation says:

“Hill has recorded 50+ tackles in each of the last four seasons with the Bengals and averaged four sacks per season. The former third-round pick is coming off a three-year, $30 million contract. He turns 30 this offseason, so he has good years left in the tank, and he’s a disruptive instant starter for any team that signs him to shore up their interior.”

Sign me up.

Looking for younger players who might still have upside?

Odighizuwa, who plays for the Dallas Cowboys, and Williams, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, fit into that category.

PFF estimates a market value of four years, $85 million ($42.5 million guaranteed) for Odighizuwa. It says:

Odighizuwa played some of the best ball of his career over the second half of the campaign. The 2021 third-round pick is quietly one of the more underrated defenders across the NFL.

Williams had a career-high 5.0 sacks in 2024. PFF estimates a market value of three years, $63 million ($37.5 million guaranteed).

SB Nation says:

Williams recorded five sacks and 10 QB hits in 2024 as the number two DT for the Eagles. He’s only going to be 26 in April, and has a lot of room for further growth. The former third-round pick has an elite pass-rush grade from PFF, but struggles against the run.

Looking for an inexpensive rotational option?

Tart, 6-foot-2, 315 pounds is a five-year veteran who spent the first four years of his career with the Tennessee Titans. He spent 2021-2023 playing in a defense coordinated by Bowen. The 27-year-old makes sense as a low-cost option who has played well for Bowen in the past. Tart’s market value is estimated by PFF to be just one-year, $2.5 million.

I could understand a big swing at Odighizuwa or Williams. I would be ecstatic, though, to come out of free agency with the combination of Hill and Tart.

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Potential 2025 draft targets

While I don’t think I would love using the No. 3 overall pick on Graham, the failure to use premium draft assets on the defensive line has to change. The Giants have picks 34, 65, 103 and 133 (projected — compensatory). Using any of those picks on a defensive lineman would mark the highest defensive line draft pick of the Schoen era, and if it were me I would be hoping to make that happen.

I can’t, at this point, give you detailed analysis of which linemen I prefer. I’m not there yet. I can say that Kenneth Grant of Michigan might be a nice get at 34.

Here are the top 15 defensive linemen currently ranked in the NFL Mock Draft Database:

Mason Graham, Michigan (No. 5 overall)
Kenneth Grant, Michigan (No. 19)
Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M (No. 23)
Derrick Harmon, Oregon (No. 27)
Walter Nolen, Ole Miss (No. 28)
Tyleik Williams, Ohio State (No. 33)
Deone Walker, Kentucky (No. 55)
T.J. Sanders, South Carolina (No. 59)
Alfred Collins, Texas (No. 70)
Shemar Turner, Texas A&M (No. 71) | Prospect profile
Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee (No. 73)
Jordan Burch, Oregon (No. 78)
Ty Hamilton, Ohio State (No. 113)
Howard Cross III, Notre Dame (No. 115)
Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech (No. 128)

The overall plan

• Cut Nunez-Roches for the cap space in hopes of adding a better player.
• Sign a veteran, or two. Hill and Tart might be primary targets. That is the same “sign multiple players instead of taking one big swing” approach the Giants used on the offensive line last offseason.
• Add a tackle in the draft, with the hope of doing so no later than Round 4 — provided the value is there.