Many quickly clocked second-year defensive lineman Darius Alexander when the New York Giants announced their Week 2 inactives. He wasn't on the injury report heading into the contest or in the club's opener, so what gives?
Alas, Alexander was a healthy scratch for the second time in his young career. The other instance was Week 1 of his rookie campaign, following a disappointing offseason. Frankly, the 2025 third-round pick's time with the Giants was doomed from the beginning, and another coach's decision might mark the end of the road.
The signs were there since summer, but Alexander has officially taken a backseat to the Giants' veterans, namely Chauncey Golston, D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris. Heck, even late-summer addition CJ Okoye and fellow John Harbaugh recruit Josh Tupou have emerged as the preferred rotational options. Now what?
Waving the white flag on someone New York invested valuable time and resources in so fast stings. Nevertheless, both parties could benefit from a clean slate, and the four teams below are logical potential trade destinations for Alexander.
4 potential Giants DL Darius Alexander landing spots after healthy scratch
Chicago Bears
A lethal Bears offense that scored 59 points to kick off 2026 can use all the support it can get on defense, specifically up front. They're tied for the third-most yards before contact per RB carry allowed (2.5) and second-to-last in stuff rate (4.5 percent). Their leaky run-stopping unit is also in the bottom 10 in rushing yards per game (122) and yards per attempt (4.9).
To say Chicago's decision to send Gervon Dexter Sr. to the Atlanta Falcons in August has aged poorly thus far would be an understatement. They surely miss his ability to disrupt the quarterback from the interior. Alexander (theoretically) has the length and pass-rushing skills to help fill the void.
Miami Dolphins
Miami's 10.7 percent pressure rate per opponent dropback across two games is dead last — by a wide margin. For context, the Bears are 31st at 23.9 percent.
As sad as that sounds, the Dolphins have blitzed at the league's fourth-highest clip (44.6 percent). They have zero sacks to show for their aggressive approach. To twist the knife even further, every other team has at least one takedown.
Alexander isn't a savior by any stretch of the imagination. He's a low-risk, medium-reward reclamation project, which a rebuilding Dolphins squad should welcome. Their unheralded sophomore trio of Jordan Phillips, Zeek Biggers and Keith Cooper Jr. leaves much to be desired behind longtime franchise stalwart Zach Sieler.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Deshaun Watson quite literally hasn't been as efficient as he was in the Cleveland Browns' shocking 23-19 victory over the Buccaneers since the 2020 pandemic-altered season. You know it's time to bring in reinforcements when a washed-up QB has their best outing in nearly six years.
Seriously, though, the Bucs can benefit from bolstering the middle of the trenches. Vita Vea is an aging star, and Calijah Kancey has yet to regain his pre-injury form after suffering a torn pec last September. Taking a flier on a talented, albeit unproven, player like Alexander to inject some youth and fresh blood into the group can't hurt.
Los Angeles Chargers
L.A. suddenly has a Dalvin Tomlinson-sized hole to fill on the D-line. The Giants' 2017 second-round selection went down with a hamstring issue in the Chargers' deflating 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and will reportedly "miss time." Alexander makes sense as a temporary fill-in with upside to develop into a long-term contributor.
Not to mention, Tomlinson only signed a one-year contract with the Chargers in March. So, not only are the Bolts down a key starter in the meantime, but they also need to think about the future. Their lack of depth behind him and standout Teair Tart is a weak spot on the roster.
Note: Advanced metrics courtesy of Fantasy Points' data suite 2.0 ($) unless cited otherwise.
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