NFL analyst: New York Giants have 'a potentially elite pass rush'

There are plenty of reasons for optimism for the New York Giants in 2025. Many experts believe that general manager Joe Schoen's roster building over the last four offseasons will finally take root and yield positive results, despite facing the NFL's most daunting schedule.

One reason for optimism, per Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus, is the pass rush. The Giants have talent and mismatches brewing on both ends and up the middle.

Led by superstar defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Giants ranked seventh in the NFL in PFF pass-rush grade. In addition to that excellent group, the team added Penn State’s Abdul Carter with the third-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Carter earned an elite 92.4 PFF pass-rush grade while accruing 66 pressures and 13 sacks last season. He and third-round pick Darius Alexander should bolster New York’s defensive line in a big way.

It still remains to be seen how defensive coordinator Shane Bowen plans on deploying all of these elite assets.

''That's something from a staff standpoint that we're working through trying to find a way," Bowen said recently.

"Ultimately we want to get our best 11 on the field, whatever way we got to maneuver to do that. We got to find ways to get the guys that can impact the game on the field... So there is some versatility there. With Abdul he did a little bit of that stuff off the ball in college early in his career, so there is some versatility there and some versatility with what we could potentially do with Burns as well."

So long as the Giants remain healthy, the defense will look entirely different in 2025.