The New York Giants are getting set for the 2026 season, with not much left to do before the start of training camp in the next few months. Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report ranked each of the 32 NFL teams from worst to best on defense and gave the G-Men a perfect starting point for this upcoming season.
With the drafting of Arvell Reese in the first round, this defense is now ranked 20th in all of football. Not too bad, but not ideal with how their offense has been regarded for next season. Let’s go over why this is the perfect starting point and where it could end up when the season gets underway.
Giants defense sits in the middle but has room to climb
The 2025 version of the Giants' defense finished the season allowing 439 points, which is the most since 2019, when they allowed 451 points. That mark placed them in 26th, and there was a feeling that there was much left to be desired following the final game.
Headlined by linebacker Brian Burns, who was a one-man army with 16.5 sacks on the year, the defensive core had some issues getting to the quarterback. Rookie Abdul Carter followed Burns but only mustered a total of four sacks on the season.
Furthermore, this defense could not stop the run, as they allowed the most yards per attempt at 5.3 and were the second-worst team in the league in yards allowed on the ground at 2,470.
Enter the looming 2026 season. There is a sense that even without star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and middle linebacker Bobby Okereke, things are actually looking up. The middle of the defense got a serious upgrade at the second level with the drafting of Reese with the fifth overall pick in the draft. He is a type of player that could be a Swiss Army knife for this defense, putting pressure on some of the highly regarded defenders to start to step up.
Here's looking at you Kayvon Thibadeaux.
The Giants’ ranking of 20th sandwiches them between two NFC South teams, the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. By the end of the 2026 season, there is a chance that the Giants could be among the top of the NFL, and it will likely come from the John Harbaugh effect.
The culture with Big Blue has changed drastically over the past few months, and much of it is due to their new head coach. Brian Daboll had a hard time getting this team together, and Joe Judge even harder still before that. But Harbaugh has seemingly bent this franchise’s knee almost immediately and has made the necessary moves to put together the team he wants out there on the field.
That is why the Giants have a better chance of succeeding on the defensive side of the ball. After all, with how the 2025 campaign ended, there is not much lower they can go this time around.
Add us as a preferred source on Google