30 non-QBs who should be in MVP consideration for the 2024 season

24. Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants

This feels like a huge long shot, not from a talent standpoint, as Dexter Lawrence is one of the best players in the league, but the New York Giants would have to be relevant for him to even sniff an MVP from the defensive line. Is there any world where the Giants are relevant? It’s the same world where Lawrence is an MVP contender.

There is one saving grace of the Giants: this defensive line. Beyond Lawrence, they added superstar pass rusher Brian Burns, hybrid Kayvon Thibodeaux, and veteran Rakeem Nunez-Roches. Instead of everyone focusing on Lawrence, offensive lines will be pulling their hair out (for the linemen who still have hair) trying to figure out who to stop on a particular play. 

This will only help Lawrence. Of course, as a defensive lineman, Lawrence won’t get the eye-popping stats we usually see in these conversations, but the progression of analytics and our conversations around actual impact will propel Lawrence. He will be in those conversations because we understand football better.

We’re talking about the Most Valuable Player here. If the Giants win, we can’t think it’s going to be because of Daniel Jones, even with a shiny new Malik Nabers. This defense is going to be the one unit that can take the Giants to the playoffs, and it will be the Lawrence-Burns duo that drives them there.