If anyone still needs a reason to believe Dexter Lawrence II is the best nose tackle in the NFL, one amazing statistic sums up why the New York Giants’ All-Pro is in a world all by himself.
Lawrence is light years ahead of his contemporaries in a niche area. Namely, when it comes to putting pressure on the pocket from over center.
That’s where nose tackles play, and Lawrence is almost out of sight of the next most disruptive playmaker at his position, Vita Vea of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The numbers are staggering, per Steve Palazzolo of the “Check the Mic with Steve Palazzolo & Sam Monson” podcast.
Palazzolo revealed how “since 2022, nose tackle pressures, taking out negated plays, Dexter Lawrence has 103. Vita Vea is number two with 23. Vita Vea does line up at nose tackle sometimes, I’m saying Dexter Lawrence lines up at nose tackle, which is the hardest place to get pressure, but it’s the most detrimental to the offense.”
Numbers on this level hardly need any extra credibility, but Palazzolo pointed out what makes lining up over the ball and still collapsing the pocket even more impressive.
He explained why “it’s the hardest place to get pressure because it’s easy to double with either guard, but if you get pressure from nose tackle, it’s the most detrimental to the offense, and Dexter Lawrence has those games with seven, eight, nine. What did he have, ten pressures against Kirk Cousins’ Vikings in the playoffs? No one can do that in the NFL right now. So Dexter Lawrence is in his own world.”
Lawrence dominating in a way other players can’t, won’t surprise Giants fans. They’ve gotten used to No. 97 being a force, but questions are emerging about Lawrence’s ability to continue setting the pace and standard at his position.
A lot of those questions are based on the idea the Giants don’t need Lawrence as much as they once did.
Giants Set to Be Less Reliant on Dexter Lawrence II
The Giants have already been warned not to expect Lawrence to lead the team in sacks for a third season out of four. There are a doubts about Lawrence keeping the numbers up for two reasons.
First, Lawrence can expect more double- and triple-teaming from opponents who know all about his power and push. Doubling Lawrence doesn’t always work, though, like when the 27-year-old was “double-teamed on 63.3% of his pass rushes” through seven games last season, “the highest rate faced by any player since at least 2018 (min. 100 pass rushes),” according to Next Gen Stats.
Lawrence still logged a career-high nine sacks, despite the extra attention. He kept the pressure on because of plays like this bull rush against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, highlighted by Nick Falato of SB Nation’s Big Blue View, that helped cause an interception.
Dexter Lawrence split the double-team to hurry Darnold and assist with an INC
Assigning additional blockers to Lawrence will be tougher after the Giants added 2025 NFL draft third-overall pick Abdul Carter alongside edge-rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. This trio will terrify offensive linemen as part of a pass rush plan based on moving parts and changing looks.
Having an additional playmaker on the edge could actually help Lawrence see more one-on-one matchups, but what he really needs is help from defensive linemen. It can come from a rookie amoeba capable of wrecking protection from multiple spots.
This first-year pro and veteran interior rusher Roy Robertston-Harris can ease the pass-rush burden on Lawrence, but the latter must find ways to better impact the running game.
Giants Need More from Main Man vs. the Run
Lawrence is one of the game’s elites, but there’s something odd about his continued presence at the heart of one of the NFL’s weakest run defenses in recent years. The Giants allowed 4.6 yards per carry in 2024, only marginally better than the 4.7 they surrendered in 2023, one year after giving up 5.2 yards per rush.
While his absence for five games with a dislocated elbow hurt the unit last season, Lawrence had been a mainstay in successive soft run fronts. It’s easy to place the burden of responsibility onto struggling linebackers, but the Giants need more from a formidable 6-foot-4, 340-pounder as talented as Lawrence.
Specifically, the Giants can’t see Lawrence get beat off the ball as easily as he was by this double-team against the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023. He was put on skates by future Giants Greg Van Roten and Jermaine Eluemunor, per Falato.
Greg Van Roten (70) and Jermaine Eluemunor double-team Dexter Lawrence out of a 1st Quarter run
The Giants are missing another D-lineman able to take advantage of the attention paid to Lawrence in the ground game. Somebody without his natural dynamism as a pass-rusher, but still possessing the bulk and leverage to clog running lanes and readjust the line of scrimmage.
Finding one of those linemen would make Lawrence even better.
