We have reached July, which means as people around the country are feening for football, pointless lists come out by the hundreds just to give fans a little taste of something in the dog days of summer. The beauty of football fandom is getting unreasonably mad at the list makers if you disagree with something.
And, boy, CBS Sports put together a good one to infuriate New York Giants fans. CBS Sports put together a list of the best player at every jersey number, and shockingly, they forgot to include the one and only Dexter "Sexy Dexy" Lawrence.
CBS Sports played it safe by giving jersey No. 97 to Nick Bosa
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports opted to go with San Francisco's Nick Bosa at No. 97. If he was going off career accomplishments, it's admittedly tough to argue with the choice. Bosa is a Defensive Player of the Year, a one-time First Team All-Pro Pro and a five-time Pro Bowler.
However, the article makes it clear it's players entering the 2025 season, and with that logic, it doesn't make sense how Lawrence doesn't get the nod here:
"There are no shortage of options here between linemen both young (Aidan Hutchinson), experienced (Dexter Lawrence) and particularly seasoned (Cameron Heyward)," Benajmin wrote. "Bosa has enjoyed the greatest peaks when healthy, however, putting on a pass-rushing clinic for several Super Bowl bids in San Francisco."
Because of injury, Lawrence only played 12 games in 2024. But, in those 12 games, he was in serious contention for his own DPOY Award. Lawrence accounted for nine sacks and 44 total tackles...as a defensive tackle.
To put that in perspective, Bosa had the same number of sacks and 52 total tackles while playing two more games at an arguably more quarterback-pressure-friendly position. Plus, Lawrence is widely regarded around the league as the best player at his position. With Bosa (he's great and definitely in the conversation as best EDGE in the league), there's at least a debate.
Lawrence has been one of, if not the only, consistent bright spots for the G-Men since he's been in the league and deserved to represent the team on this list. Hopefully, he sees it and uses it as bulletin board material, and we get an even better Lawrence in 2025. For now, we'll just have to pretend CBS Sports forgot he existed. Because what other reason would there be to leave him off?