NY Giants 2025 Training Camp Preview: Depth and Versatility Enhances Defensive Line

Dexter Lawrence II: Selected by his peers as the best nose tackle in the league for the third consecutive year, what more can be said about the Giants' best player?  His 9.0 sacks through seven games led the league last year, Lawrence having to fight through double-teams on nearly every snap. He was the best and most consistent player on the defense. 

Rakeem Nunez-Roches: Nunez-Roches has a good motor and fine mobility, but he struggled to disengage when tied up in the trenches, oftentimes against solo blocking. Still, he managed to set career highs in tackles (52) and quarterback hits (6), and tied his single-season best in sacks (2.0).  

Chauncey Golston: We listed Golston with the outside linebackers, but he’ll likely see most of his work with the defensive line this season at defensive end, where last year he had a breakout season of sorts.

Elijah Chatman: Chatman flashed plenty of potential that’s worth developing, but the Giants might have to continue doing so if they can get him through to the practice squad, given all the depth they added.       

Cory Durden: Signed off the Rams practice squad in early December, Durden was immediately pressed into action and delivered 10 tackles in three games despite very limited playing time.  He flashed in pursuit, where he got most of his tackles, but his game lacked some physicality at times.  

Jeremiah Ledbetter: A journeyman lineman with stints across multiple NFL teams, Ledbetter offers position flexibility and toughness. He’s not a lock to make the final roster. Still, his experience and ability to plug in at multiple spots make him a valuable camp body and a possible rotational depth piece.

Jordan Riley: Riley landed behind Lawrence and D.J. Davidson on the depth chart, but when both had their seasons cut short due to injury, Riley stepped in to finish out the season and showed a few glimpses of playmaking ability. He was physical against the run, but struggled to shed blocks on the pass rush.  His spot on the 53 might not be there, but perhaps a practice squad position might be there for him. 

Roy Robertson-Harris: Robertson-Harris is one of the early favorite contenders to line up next to Lawrence, at least until Alexander, the rookie, is ready to go. Robertson-Harris offers more pass-rush firepower than what the Giants had outside of Lawrence last year, and he brings a level of position flexibility that the Giants seemed to emphasize a bit more this past offseason in building up the defensive line.  

D.J. Davidson: For the second time in three seasons, his year came to a crashing halt due to injuries. While Davidson looked promising in the pass rush, he was also not getting enough things done in stopping the bleeding against the run. He appears to have an uphill battle as well with hanging around to finish out his rookie contract. 

Elijah Garcia: Garcia was part of the three-man defensive front that the coaches turned to late in the season when injuries began wiping out the defensive talent that coordinator Shane Bowen was routinely deploying as more of a two-man front. Garcia played well given his opportunities and could be someone to watch this summer as more affordable depth on that defensive front.

Darius Alexander: The Giants are hoping they struck gold with this rookie, who at Toledo played like a man among boys. Alexander didn’t practice during the spring, presumably due to an undisclosed ailment, so it remains to be seen how far behind he is in his NFL development and if he can catch up. There should be a role for him, though, on the defense this year.

Biggest Unanswered Question

Do the Giants finally have enough support around Dexter Lawrence? 

Ever since the Giants traded away Leonard Williams, that has put some added stress on Dexter Lawrence, who, to his credit, has handled it well. Lawrence did receive a little bit of a reprieve, though, when the team signed A’Shawn Robinson a couple of years ago to be his running mate, but Robinson left via free agency. That then led to Rakeem Nunez-Roches being plugged in alongside Lawrence.

To Lawrence’s credit, he was still productive, despite being double-teamed at an alarming rate. But if you think he was productive last year, just imagine how much more productive he might have been with a little better support around him.

Besides Nunez-Roches, the Giants decided to roll with youth on the defensive line with mixed results, mostly bordering on the not-so-good. This year, general manager Joe Schoen heavily invested in defensive line talent in an attempt to make Lawrence’s job a lot easier moving forward. 

How that depth shakes out, especially as the team looks to groom third-round draft pick Darius Alexander for potentially a larger role alongside Lawrence in the future, remains to be seen. Still, certainly on paper, it would appear that the Giants have upgraded the talent so that Lawrence doesn’t have to go at it alone.  

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Training Camp Battle to Watch

Rakeem Nuneez-Roches vs. the Newcomers

The Giants signed veteran Rakeem Nunez-Roches two offseasons ago for his run-stopping abilities and his leadership. While “Nacho” did finish as the Giants' team tackle leader among defensive linemen (52), and he was a positive influence in the locker room, it’s fair to wonder if the team will run it back with him as a starter, given the additions of Roy Robertson-Harris and rookie Darius Alexander.

Finances could end up being the tipping point as to whether Nunez-Roches survives the cut. Of those, “Nacho,” Robertson-Harris, and Alexander, Nunez-Roches have the highest cap hit ($5.033 million). If he’s trimmed from the roster, the cap-strapped Giants ($3.822 million in space) would save $3.6 million.

Camp Position Grade: A-

The Giants put a heavy emphasis on adding defensive linemen with position flexibility. Now it’s just a matter of how the depth chart shakes out. And that’s good news for Lawrence, who, after having to go at things all by himself, now appears to have some quality help around him that will hopefully make his life this fall a lot easier.

Early 53-Man Roster Projections

(We included Golston in the outside linebackers group, so we’re not including him in this group even though he’ll primarily be a defensive lineman.) 

The Giants finally have a deep defensive line, something they haven’t had during the Schoen-Daboll era. Even better is that they have players with positional flexibility, many of whom can provide a little more on the pass rush in addition to run defense support.