After all of the drama surrounding Wink Martindale and his departure, the NY Giants finally found his replacement. With plenty of interviews under his belt, Joe Schoen finally narrowed down his choices, picking former Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
Bowen is an interesting choice, touted by many as a pass-rush specialist and an excellent teacher. While the numbers his defenses produced may not be special, he seemingly did a good job given the talent at hand.
With Bowen joining the Giants, there are a few guys who will benefit more than others under his system. These guys may be good players already, but under Bowen, we could see them flourish even more and make leaps into categories previously unthought.
5. Dane Belton
Toward the end of last season, Dane Belton started to show flashes of stardom with his coverage abilities. Despite this, he still struggled immensely against the run and when making tackles in the open field. Under Bowen, though, we could see these issues be solved considering his history with safeties.
Not only did Bowen coach Kevin Byard, one of the premier safeties in the NFL during his time with the Titans, but more recently, he turned K'Von Wallace into a starting-level player. While he wasn't the best in coverage, the jump Wallace made as a tackler with Bowen was rather significant.
In the seven games he spent with the Cardinals to start the season, Wallace had a PFF tackle grade of 44.4 and missed 17 percent of his attempts. Then, after being released and joining the Titans, his grade rose to 86.7 and he missed just 4.7 percent of his attempts.
If Belton can make a similar jump as a tackler, he very well could become a significant part of the Giants' defense. It may be asking a lot given how Belton has performed thus far in the league, but even if he can become an average tackler, the Giants' defense will benefit a ton.
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4. Micah McFadden
Last season, we saw Micah McFadden have a bit of a breakout campaign. He certainly had his ups and downs, but compared to his rookie season, McFadden at the very least looked like a starting-level linebacker. Now, with Bowen at the helm, we could see him turn into a star in just his third season in the NFL.
During his time with the Titans, Bowen was pivotal in turning Azeez Al-Shaair from a starting-level 'backer, to a star. While he wasn't perfect, Shaair racked up 163 combined tackles and nine tackles for loss through 17 games. Shaair has his issues in coverage, but compared to years past, he was much improved.
McFadden has relatively similar issues to Shaair, they both miss a fair amount of tackles and aren't the best in coverage. Despite this, Bowen did a great job at mentoring Shaair and we could easily see him doing the same with McFadden.
If McFadden manages to make a Shaair-esque leap, the Giants will have one of, if not the best inside linebacker duos in the entire NFL. McFadden and Bobby Okereke would be more of a force to be reckoned with than they already are, which is really saying something.
3. Azeez Ojulari
One of the most disappointing players on the Giants last season was Azeez Ojulari. Not only did he play in just 11 games, but when on the field, his level of play was nowhere close to where it once was. While part of this had to do with Martindale's system that infamously hinders edge-rushers, Ojulari was still at fault.
In the 11 games we saw out of him, Ojulari racked up 16 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 25 pressures. These numbers, regardless of system, are pretty darn bad for how good Ojulari has been in the past.
Lucky for him, Bowen is a bit of a pass-rush specialist. While the Titans' numbers won't show it, the lack of talent he had around him played a role in that. Despite this, he still managed to turn what, on paper, should have been a bad core, to an at least slightly below-average one. For example, under Bowen, Arden Key put up the second most sacks and pressures of his career with six and 40, respectively.
We've seen Ojulari be much better than this when healthy, so it's pretty exciting to think about how good he could be underneath a pass-rushing guru like Bowen. The talent has always been evident, but if Ojulari can be put in the proper system and stay on the field, the Giants could have an elite duo between him and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
2. Dexter Lawrence
Dexter Lawrence is already one of, if not the best defensive players in all of football. So, when we say he could very well get better, it starts to get very scary for opposing teams. Bowen has coached up some pretty incredible talent in the form of Jeffery Simmons, so imagining what he can do with Lawrence has us excited.
For example, despite playing just 12 games, Simmons racked up 44 combined tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 47 pressures. While he isn't a pure nose tackle like Lawrence, both guys play on the interior and are pass-rush specialists. Perhaps, under Bowen, we could see Lawrence move around in the trenches in order to take fewer double teams and dominate more.
Regardless of whether he does this, Lawrence could be in for an even better season than we've seen from him recently. He racked up 4.5 sacks and 65 pressures last season while eating up a ton of double teams. If he can earn more one-on-one matchups, we could see Sexy Dexy break some records in 2024.
1. Kayvon Thibodeaux
After a modest rookie season, Thibodeaux broke out into borderline stardom in 2023. While the consistency wasn't there for him to be a Pro Bowler, the numbers show that Thibodeaux had an incredible sophomore season and he is ready to build off of it in 2024.
In 17 games, Thibodeaux racked up 50 combined tackles, 11.5 sacks, and 44 pressures. Unfortunately for Thibs, Martindale definitely held him back a bit from what could have been a truly elite season. While some of Thibodeaux's issues certainly fall back on him, there was truly no reason for him to have played 84 coverage snaps in '23.
We've already mentioned what Bowen can do to young pass-rushers and Ojulari's potential under him. Considering how much better Thibodeaux has been than Ojulari, we can only imagine how much his ceiling could rise with Bowen coaching him.
At the very least, we're sure Bowen won't continue to play Thibodeaux in coverage, which is best for both him and the defense. The Giants need more consistent pass-rushers around guys like Lawrence and we're hopeful that Bowen can help deliver that from within.