When the New York Giants selected Abdul Carter with their No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft back in April, it gave Giants fans visions of the past when they were winning their Super Bowls. While Eli Manning was winning the MVP Award for his game-winning drives, the defense was viewed to be just as important to winning those championships back in 2007 and 2011.
With pass rushers like Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka, and Jason Pierre-Paul, the Giants defense and particularly the pass rushers, were feared around the league. Some even said the Giants defense back in 2007 wrote the blueprint on how to stop Tom Brady, which was to get after him all game and make him as uncomfortable as possible. The Giants pass rushers and defense did that and as a result, hoisted up the Lombardi Trophy twice in recent times.
With Carter being selected so high by the Giants, to go along with former Top 5 draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux and veteran pass rusher Brian Burns, the Giants pass rush is already generating some buzz. Throw in potential Defensive Player of the Year candidate Dexter Lawrence, middle linebacker Bobby Okereke, and free agent safety addition Jevon Holland, and the defense has a lot of potential to be one of the better ones in the league.
Mina Kimes believes The New York Giants will have a top 10 defense in 2025
On Mina Kimes of ESPN’s The Mina Kimes Show, she, along with former NFL player Dominique Foxworth, discussed the teams that had the potential to be Top 10 defenses in 2025. They listed the Giants as one of those teams and credited several reasons why, but primarily focused a lot on the Giants pass rush options.
“Here’s the thing. They also added some players in the back end that I think could stabilize it," Kimes said. "Jevon Holland at safety, Paulson Adebo, Dru Phillips is really good. I really like the combination of Jevon Holland and Tyler Nubin playing together. But this is all about the front. Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux. It’s a nightmare. And their deep.”
It’s this kind of buzz surrounding the Giants that has people looking at them as a possible sleeper candidate heading into the season. Some even feel that the presence of Carter alone and his differences as a player could be what transforms the Giants and the defense in 2025.
Last year, the Giants defense kept them in games for the majority of the season before the injuries to Lawrence, Thibodeaux, and Okereke happened. The Giants defense led the league in sacks for the majority of the season before Lawrence went down for the season. Despite that, the Giants pass rush finished ninth in sacks. The defense seemed to be a major focus point of Joe Schoen when the off-season started, especially with the free agent additions of Holland, Adebo, Chauncey Golston, and the drafting of Carter and Darius Alexander.
It remains to be seen if Carter, Burns, Thibodeaux, and Lawrence get the Giants defense back to the championship levels that Tuck, Strahan, Umenyiora, and JPP once had it at. But the potential is there, and they have created a buzz. Before they drafted Carter, we knew the Giants pass rush could get after the quarterback. Now, throwing in the best pass rusher coming out of college, the defense really might have the potential to create havoc and wreck games for the opposition.
On the other side of the ball, it’ll be up to the offense to not allow the defense to stay on the field too long and get tired out. The offense couldn’t generate points and keep the time of possession in their favor. If the offense can manage to do that and keep the defense relatively fresh and remain healthy on the field, then the sky really is the limit for the Giants defense in 2025. Getting to a Top 10 level doesn’t seem as crazy as some might think.