The New York Giants found out what their fellow division rival Philadelphia Eagles are doing is actually working and decided to mimic their NFL Draft approach. With the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft, the Giants picked Penn State EDGE, Abdul Carter. Within minutes of getting one pass rusher, they announced they were exercising the fifth-year option on Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Before the NFL Draft progressed outside of the top 10, the Giants had already solidified the defensive line that’s supposed to save Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll from getting fired after this season. They know how important this season is and figured defense was the way to go.
New York is smart for locking down their defensive line, but they still need weapons on the offensive side of the ball. I guess that’s what the rest of the draft is for. For their sake, it better work.
New York Giants mimic division rivals NFL Draft strategy and it just might work
Thibodeaux getting his fifth-year option picked up will fall to the wayside in the grand scheme of NFL Draft headlines. But it shows the Giants believe their defense will be the reason for their success. I’m sure if Travis Hunter was there, that would have been the ideal pick. But with Carter there, he was too good to pass up.
Their approach to fortifying the defensive line is the same philosophy the Philadelphia Eagles used and it earned them a Super Bowl win in February. The Giants hope they can have the same success.
As of now, aside from their quarterback room and Malik Nabers, the Giants still have work to do to get better on offense. I’m sure they’ll address that in the second round and on. But Russell Wilson needs help.
This offense doesn’t have any true weapons aside from Nabers. They need a better running back and need to get a solid No. 2 receiver to pair with Nabers. We saw how Wilson looked with a mediocre offense with Pittsburgh last year.
I’m not saying he’s destined for the same fate. But the Giants shouldn’t be expecting Wilson to work magic with this offense. He’s not that type of player anymore. That said, if that’s the only thing they have to worry about now after getting Carter, then it might be worth it.
Thibodeaux was hyped to have an elite EDGE rusher opposite of him. Now the Giants feel they’re one step closer to getting back to the playoffs. It won’t be easy in a division with the NFC runner-up and the Super Bowl champion.
That said, they feel like the duo of Carter and Thibodeaux can wreak enough havoc to stir up the division.