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Nov 3, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) reacts during introductions before the game against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

PFF Named This Giants Defender Among Best First Round Picks of Last Decade

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Apr 6, 2025 12:14 PM ET

The price of a first-round pick in the modern NFL is something that the New York Giants are no strangers to, given their span of woeful football in recent years. The only problem is that they haven’t always spent them on a player of the same golden value.

As much as the idea of losing a ton of games—“tanking”—has become one of the least noble concepts in professional sports, it’s one that becomes enticing for talent-hungry franchises due to the promise of procuring a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. If used correctly, they can turn the asset into a cornerstone player that alters the team's fate for years to come.

The Giants, who’ve never been an organization to publicly admit to tanking for a high draft pick, have been in that situation a handful of times over the past decade of their history.

They’ve held eight picks in the top 15 of the board, including four in the top six dating back to the 2019 season when they selected former quarterback Daniel Jones to become Eli Manning’s successor.

As time has told, most of those picks haven’t panned out, and it’s consistently set the Giants back from returning to the status of a contender.

Last offseason, one of their rare success stories in Saquon Barkley, who was taken as the No. 2 pick in 2018 and produced three 1,000-yard seasons for the team, became a significant loss when he took his talents across the division to Philadelphia, leaving New York with only one playoff berth and win in six years together.

However, the Giants have not struck out in all their attempts at finding premier players at the top of the event.

They still have one former first-round player who they are lucky isn’t a part of that embarrassing trend and has become a complete stud out of a gamble by the previous front office regime.

That guy is captain and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, the 17th overall pick in the 2019 draft, who Pro Football Focus recognized as one of the highest-graded selections among each slot of the top 32 picks of the NFL Draft over the past decade.

"Lawrence has lived in opposing backfields over the last three seasons,” said analyst Max Chadwick.

“His 93.4 PFF grade since 2022 is the best among all defensive tackles, and he’s the only interior defender with 90.0-plus grades as a pass rusher and run defender.”

The luster of Lawrence, who stands at a fearful 6’4” and 340 lbs, has been told alone in the sheer size and brute strength that he brings to the line of scrimmage on just about every play.

His presence demands the attention of an opposing team on any given Sunday, and his force and mobility have built him into one of the most revered gap-stuffers in the game.

The Giants brought Lawrence in as a depth piece and eventual replacement for veteran Dalvin Tomlinson, who would only remain in New York until the end of the 2020 season.

Lawrence would step in that following year and create a dynamic pressure duo with fellow pass rusher Leonard Williams on the defensive front.

In his rookie year, the two combined for 64 tackles, three sacks, and 6.5 tackles for loss as the Giants' defense was in the bottom third of the league in total production allowed.

By year two, they had become the two main pass rushers on the team, with 15.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss in the first 17-game season in the NFL.

The unfortunate part was that Williams would be traded to Seattle midway through the 2023 season, and the Giants passed the keys to the defensive unit over to Lawrence to see if he could truly be the cornerstone they hoped for in the draft. The answer in the last three seasons has been stunningly yes.

Lawrence has produced at least 44 tackles, 4.5 sacks, five pass deflections, and three turnovers in that same span, including his team-leading nine sacks in 202,4 despite only playing in 13 games before sustaining a season-ending elbow injury.

If not for that ailment, he might have been on record for his first double-digit sack campaign, and it had the Giants atop the league in that category until close to the end.

The Giants need look no further than the run game to see how much they missed Lawrence’s presence. He notched those two 90.0+ PFF scores in the season opener with six pressures in just 37 total snaps and would follow that with an 83.8 run defense grade, 36 total pressures, 25 stops, only one penalty, and five missed tackles in 13 games.

As long as Lawrence was manning the middle of the defensive front, the Giants interior was much more challenging to penetrate because a behemoth stood in the gaps waiting for the ball carrier within seconds of the snap. Even when he was taking on a blocker, it’s hard to keep running lanes open when a player of his caliber is clogging up space with his sheer size and lateral reach.

The Giants are looking forward to getting Lawrence back next season as a prime piece of their defense, but that’s also why they’re seeking another defensive tackle in the draft to partner with him.

The position lacked much depth last year as the team had to rely on inexperienced youth or practice squad members, and as a result, the Giants dropped into the bottom third in opponent rushing statistics.

The Giants are thought to be looking for an elite young prospect who could come in and be plugged in as a starter or rotational weapon right away. And who better for a prospect to learn from than Lawrence?

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