Giants First-Rounder Vows to Break Steelers Star's Record

A former New York Giants first-round pick has his sights set on breaking a record that T.J. Watt tied in 2021 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That season, Watt matched Giants legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan for the most sacks in a single year with 22.5, with the latter accomplishing that feat in 2001. Predictably, both individuals won AP Defensive Player of the Year for their respective performances.

Now, Kayvon Thibodeaux is locked in on besting that mark with New York as he enters his fourth season in the NFL.

“Every time I come out on the field, I want to have more sacks than I ever had, more tackles than I ever had and whatever I’ve got to do to help the team,” he said. “Yeah, I’m still going for the record. I’m going to go for the record every year.”

The No. 5 overall pick in 2022, Thibodeaux has racked up 21 career sacks over 43 games. He finished with just 5.5 over 12 contests last season, and his most in a single year was 11.5 back in 2023.

The Giants boast one of the more impressive edge rusher groups in the league alongside Thibodeaux, as they acquired Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers last offseason and signed him to a five-year, $141 million extension before selecting Penn State star Abdul Carter with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

Furthermore, Dexter Lawrence is perhaps the league's best pass rusher from the interior of the defensive line, so Thibodeaux may find it tough to pick up sacks on a regular basis.

He believes he's missed plenty of opportunities in the past, however, and his goal is to clean up his play in that regard as a means of boosting his production.

“I didn’t finish,” Thibodeaux said. “I think I had like five half-sacks, which should’ve been whole sacks. I had probably like four or five missed tackles at the sack point, so just finishing my plays and just being able to come out on top in every situation.”

Even if Thibodeaux were to break out and emerge as one of the league's premier pass rushers in 2025, he still has a long way to go before being mentioned in the same breath as Watt.