Front-loaded: Giants happily putting heavy pressure on their four-man D-line

When Kayvon Thibodeaux stepped to the podium after a practice last month, he made a bold proclamation. At first, it sounded like he was kidding.

But on second thought, maybe not.

“I’m going for the record — so don’t ask,” he said with a smile. “Every year I’m here, I’m going for Michael Strahan’s record.”

That NFL record — 22 ½ sacks from Strahan back in 2001 (and tied by Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt in 2021) — would certainly be a lofty goal and quite an achievement. Thibodeaux had 11 ½ sacks last year in his second NFL season. No New York Giants pass rusher has had more than that since Jason Pierre-Paul had 12 ½ back in 2014.

But goals — and perhaps production — like that may be exactly what the Giants need this season, as they switch from the creative, blitz-happy defense of former coordinator Wink Martindale to the more traditional approach of his replacement, Shane Bowen. Martindale brought pressure from everywhere, hoping to keep opposing quarterbacks and offenses confused.

Under Bowen, there will be no mystery about it. The Giants bolstered their pass rush with the addition of Brian Burns to a front wall that includes Thibodeaux and All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. That’s a formidable start to a pass rush. And it’s why Bowen wants — in fact, he needs — the pressure to come from the Giants’ front four.

“I hope it’s a big strength for us,” Bowen said recently. “We’ve got guys up there. We’ve got resources up there. And those guys, I’m expecting big things from them. And we are going to demand big things from them. Hopefully, they can play off each other. I think they complement each other in terms of what they do well. I’m going to have high standards for that group.”

There’s no choice, because the front four is everything to the pass rush in Bowen’s scheme. “I mean, you guys know the stats,” he said, “just in terms of blitz rate, what it was here compared to what we were in Tennessee.” Last season, the Titans, under Bowen’s direction, only blitzed 22 percent of the time, according to Pro Football Reference. Martindale’s Giants blitz 45.4 percent of the time — the second-highest rate in the NFL.

Martindale, of course, left in a huff back in January after a dispute with Giants head coach Brian Daboll over the fate of some of his assistants. Then the Giants hired the 37-year-old Bowen in early February. And one month later they got him the kind of pass rusher Martindale never had at his disposal when they sent a second- and fifth-round pick to Carolina for Burns, and then signed him to a five-year, $150 million contract with $87.5 million guaranteed.

Burns has 46 sacks in his five-year career, including eight last season. He’s only had one season of double-digit sacks, though — the 12 ½ he had in 2022. Still, on both talent and production, the Giants haven’t had a pass rusher like him since they traded Pierre-Paul away in 2018. And they haven’t had a duo with the potential of Burns and Thibodeaux since the trio of JPP, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora played together (and combined for 30 ½ sacks) in 2011 on their way to win Super Bowl LVI.

The Giants are convinced that adding Burns to a group that includes the promising, young Thibodeaux on the other side and All-Pro Dexter Lawrence in the middle gives them the building blocks of a formidable line.

“I think we get paid a lot of money and we want to be the greatest,” Thibodeaux said. “This is New York. You want to see your great players play. Bringing Burns in, having Dex … Dex is a Hall of Famer. Burns is a Hall of Famer. Hopefully, one day I’ll be able to get up and put that work in. 

“We’re all here to see great players play great. I think that’s what we’re going to be able to show in this defense.”

Great players on defense were really the hallmark of the last great Giants teams. Even when Eli Manning was at his best running the offense, it was mostly the pass rush that powered the Giants to championships in 2007 and 2011. Strahan, Umenyiora, Tuck, Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka were historic pass rushers in that era. And the Giants have been trying in vain to duplicate that success ever since.

Now, with Burns pushing young Thibodeaux on the edges and Lawrence playing with veterans Jordan Phillips or Rakeem Nunez-Roches in the middle, maybe they finally can.

“It is exciting,” Burns said. “Especially when you got four guys that can do it. Allowing those guys to work is exciting, but it’s earned. We have to show that we can get to the quarterback at a consistent rate by ourselves. That’s going to take chemistry. It’s going to take a form of a brotherhood.”

“We’re chasing greatness every day,” Thibodeaux added.  “(Burns) knows a lot of things. He has been in the league a lot longer than I have. He got a lot of game, a lot of gems that’s going to help my game. Continue to get with him on and off the field and continue to grow. “

The Giants will need some quick growth up front if they have any hopes of fielding a competitive team. There are nothing but questions on offense, where quarterback Daniel Jones is under fire and will be forced to rely on a rookie receiver in Malik Nabers, especially now that Saquon Barkley is gone. And his offensive line is in the same state of flux that it’s been in for most of the last dozen or so years.

The defense, meanwhile, is decidedly front-heavy. There are strong pieces in other spots, like middle linebacker Bobby Okereke and cornerback Deonte Banks, last year’s first-round pick. But most of the back seven is young and unproven.

The tone will absolutely be set by what happens up front.

“Ultimately, you’re talking about how you want to delegate resources, right?” Bowen said. “Are you delegating them for the rush, or are you trying to delegate them for the back end? And some of that comes into play how good you are in the back end with less, or how good you are rushing the quarterback with a little bit less.

“That will evolve as we go, but my history has been (that) if we’ve got four guys that can rush, we are going to let them go rush.”

It sure seems like the plan is to let the front four go rush. That means that while Thibodeaux is unlikely to make a run at Strahan’s record, he’ll certainly have plenty of opportunities. The Giants had just 34 sacks last season — fourth-worst in the league. Nobody other than Thibodeaux had more than five. And if they want to get out of the cellar in that category, they’re going to need a lot more than that out of their defensive line.

The linemen know it too. And they sound ready for the challenge.

“Regardless of who is on the other side,” Thibodeaux said, “we’re going to try to have a party at the quarterback.”

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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