When news broke on Tuesday afternoon that the Chicago Bears were entertaining trade talks for defensive tackle Gervon "Dino Dex" Dexter, a lot of eyes immediately shifted toward the New York Giants.
And rightfully so.
Big Blue's defensive line is still in the "we're figuring it out" stage, which is definitely not where new head coach John Harbaugh and Co. want to be with the regular season right around the corner.
The thought... idea... hope... dream was that defensive lineman Darius Alexander would parlay the impressive tail end of his rookie season into a breakout second season. While it's not the be-all, end-all, his showings through two preseason games suggest he’s not ready for the moment yet. Boy, do the Giants need that breakout to happen.
With Dexter Lawrence now in Cincinnati, the need for someone to step up along the front can't be overstated, and while the old NY version of Big Dex is gone, Chicago's version is apparently open for business. The thought of Gervon Dexter in Giants blue is definitely interesting, but take a look under the hood, and it might be a trap.
Gervon Dexter might be the wrong answer to Giants’ biggest problem
We'll start with the obvious holdups. First, the Bears are going to want draft capital back for an up-and-coming player like Dexter. It feels like an early Day 3 pick (Rounds 4 or 5) could get the job done. Second, he's due a contract extension that is expected to be in the (at least) $16-$20 million per year range.
While the 6-foot-6, 326-pound 24-year-old is an upgrade over Alexander right now, posting 6.0 sacks, 38 pressures, and 11 quarterback hits last year, he brings the same fatal flaw: he's a dud against the run. His 44.0 PFF run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus last year ranked 107th out of 134 eligible linemen.
Alexander posted a 30.3 run-defense grade, ranking 130th. Essentially, Dino Dex is just a more production-mature version of the 26-year-old.
Harbs hasn't necessarily been shy about his desire to be a bigger, more physical football team in the trenches -- it's run-stuffing juggernaut time or bust. But trading for Dexter might actually do the exact opposite.
It was criminal how bad Big Blue was against the run last year, giving up the second-most rushing yards (2,470) in football. The Bears didn't fare much better, finishing sixth-to-last after giving up 2,287 yards on the ground.
What makes this more alarming is that the G-Men signed former Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds earlier this offseason. Edmunds and Dexter were on that same leaky Chicago defense together last year. I'm not saying there aren't nine other guys on the field, but putting them back together in East Rutherford doesn't exactly make me feel confident that things will magically work out.
And I am bags-under-my-eyes tired of watching this team fold against the run.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Giving up draft capital for Dexter isn't fixing NY's most glaring problem; it's just buying a shinier -- and soon-to-be more expensive -- mirror to stare at the same Darius Alexander problem we're already dealing with.
I'd argue that the Giants should figure out how not to give up 50 yards per carry before Week 1 rolls around. We’ve seen this movie before, and frankly, nobody asked for a sequel.
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