With all of the new faces in town for the NY Giants, it might be easy to forget that veteran defensive back Jalen Mills signed a one-year deal with the team. Mills isn't going to be looked at to be a star, but his veteran presence alone will be key for the young Big Blue secondary.
Mills also isn't going to let any of the younger guys on the team get disrespected. Such is the case with PFF's new 'duo rankings' which have Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence as the best edge-defender tag team in the NFL. If you ask Mills, that title 100 percent belongs to Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux:
Dex and Burns finna show yall what it’s suppose to look like! https://t.co/lLu5sBgL0I
— Jalen Mills (@greengoblin) June 24, 2024
Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns are in for monster years in 2024
We're not going to disagree with Mills here. While Parsons and Lawrence are total studs, and they've made life incredibly difficult for the Giants offensive line in recent seasons, people are also quite high on Burns and Thibodeaux leading up to Week 1.
Burns was the splash offseason addition, with Joe Schoen trading a second-round pick to land him, then giving the pass-rusher a $141 million extension. Burns is being paid like one of the top edge-rushers out there and he's now going to have to live up to his deal.
Thibodeaux is coming off an 11.5 sacks campaign, which nearly tripled the four he posted during his rookie season. Year 3 is going to be one to remember for the former No. 5 overall pick, especially with Burns now as his running mate. Add in Dexter Lawrence on the interior and the defensive front is going to put on a show each Sunday for Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen.
At the end of the day, the Giants defense as a whole is going to have to be unreal for NY to have a shot to sneak into the postseason. Leading the charge will be Burns and Thibodeaux, with these two having the potential to combine for 20 sacks in '24. Will that turn out to be the case? We can't wait to find out.