4 NY Giants who must step their game up vs. Dallas

2. Pass-rusher LB Kayvon Thibodeaux

It wasn't necessarily a poor-performing rookie campaign from outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux; however, there is always room for improvement in Year 2.

The fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft was explosive off the edge when healthy last season, but he got off to a slow start. He suffered a sprained MCL in a preseason matchup with the Bengals, which resulted in the outside linebacker missing the first two weeks of the season before starting the next 14 games for the Giants.

Thibodeaux finished with four sacks, six tackles for loss, 13 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, five passes defended, and one defensive touchdown, but he still finished 16th among edge-rushers with a 17.9 percent pass-rush win rate. The last time he faced the Cowboys in Week 12 of the 2022 season, the rookie had nine total pressures, including five quarterback hits.

There is a lot of optimism that Thibodeaux will have a breakout season this year, and from our chair, we couldn't agree more. NFL.com even predicted the second-year pass-rusher would take a giant leap in 2023. For now, the attention shifts to Sunday night when Thibodeaux faces a familiar foe in the Dallas Cowboys.