2025 Giants Defensive Personnel

[Jclayton92]

2025 Defensive Plan:

I have been looking at the defense as a whole and trying to figure out where every guy will lineup or how they will deploy them specifically in the front 7.

Major additions
Golston
 Burns
Thibodeaux
Carter
Lawrence

We had a lot of 2 and 3 man under fronts this past season. Once Lawrence went down in week 13 Bowen went to a 4 man front and the running game actually improved with Lawrence and others out.
3-3-5 46%
2-4-5 52%
Once Lawrence went down weeks 14-16 we ran a 4-3-4 65% of the time. Hopefully even when Lawrence returns we stay with the 4 man fronts or the 3 man under fronts.

To get everyone on the field together though a few things are going to have to happen. We have options now which is an amazing thing to have happen!

Option A
Carter Stays at MLB on early downs and rotates in as a pass rusher on passing downs.

Snap counts:
Lawrence 63%
Thibodeaux 86%
Burns 79%
Chatman 38%
Nunez 51%
Ojulari  38%
Davidson 23%
Okereke 100%
McFadden 61%
Muasau 39%

Lawrence, Okereke, and Thibodeaux were snap counts from 2023 so you can get an idea of their playing time when healthy a full season.

DE split 2025 Golston and Chatman

DT split Alexander, Robertson-Harris

NT split Lawrence, Nunez

Ledbetter likely provides depth to all 3

Edge split Burns and Thibodeaux basically took 80% of the reps on each side, and Carter slides in taking the remaining 40% of the edge reps if not 10% more and 35% at MLB just in year one.

Option B
 One of the 3 edge rushers moves down to DE and the other two stay at OLB,  who makes that move? I think it has to be Burns, as I don't know that Thibs or Carter has the size. Unless they move to a 4 man front but how would you deploy them?

Who do you want to see get the most reps? How would you like to see the Giants deploy all these guys?

PFF actually just listed us as one of the best nickel personnel units in THE NFL as I was typing this up.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-teams-built-success-personnel-grouping-2025

New York Giants

Between losing star safety Xavier McKinney last offseason and seeing other young players struggle, the Giants' coverage unit couldn't repeat the success it found in 2023 this past season. To remedy that issue, the team took a top-down approach to fixing its defense, starting with McKinney's direct replacement at free safety.

Former Dolphin Jevon Holland should be capable of filling that void, despite coming off a career-worst season. Since he was drafted in 2021, Holland is tied with Jessie Bates III for the fifth-best PFF coverage grade among qualified safeties. One of the few players in front of him, of course, is McKinney, and both operate best as single-high free safeties. Holland should fit right in with his new defense, which ran the sixth-most single-high defense plays in the NFL last season.

New York will also be looking for a bounce-back from ex-Saints cornerback Paulson Adebo, who struggled to a 63.9 PFF coverage grade through just seven games last season before his campaign ended due to a broken leg. In 2023, he posted an 80.5 PFF coverage grade — a top-20 mark at the position.

Assuming those two can bounce back to their previously excellent production, New York has a chance to have an excellent secondary this year. Tyler Nubin joins Holland at safety and could excel with a greater role in the box after posting a 76.0 PFF run-defense grade in his rookie season. Slot cornerback Andru Phillips earned a 77.5 PFF overall grade in his rookie campaign — a top-10 mark among all qualified cornerbacks. Those two carrying that momentum into 2025, as well as any sort of improvement from Deonte Banks, would make New York's secondary a potentially fearsome unit.

While the secondary struggled last season and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence eventually suffered a season-ending injury, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen felt the need to blitz more than he ever has as a play-caller. That shouldn't be the case this season after the Giants added the best pass rusher in this year's draft class, Abdul Carter.

In his final season at Penn State, Carter earned a 92.4 PFF pass-rush grade, ranking second in college football. Similar to Micah Parsons, his background as a former linebacker gives him the ability to succeed from anywhere in the defensive front. A four-man rush involving Carter, Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux gives the Giants very little reason to blitz next season. That should allow them to leave their best coverage defenders back and stifle opponents with nickel personnel in passing situations

[Ed Vette]

Good report. I think the reality in the league is most offensive formations will have three WRs in 11 Personnel. That will require three Cornerbacks in Nickel. I believe the Giants will maintain two Safeties on the field. That sets up five Defensive Backs. From there, two off ball inside Linebackers, two edge and two DT. In Heavy Run Defense, I see Dex, and two DTs. In third and long, I see Dex, Carter, Burns, and Thibs on the LOS. I see a mix of Thibs and Carter on one side and Burns on the other side with a two Edge Set. I see McFadden and Carter rotating and Okereke as the Mike. We should see Okereke taking 100% of snaps. I see Dru Phillips on the field a lot. The big adjustments as you outlined will be the mix of the LBr/ Edge and the Defensive Line groups. 3-3, 4-2, 5-1, and some disguise dropbacks in Zone, some in Blitz. It's a great situation to scheme for a DC. Bowen should be licking his chops dialing up those packages. If they stay healthy, I expect a top ten Defense.

[jimc]

AI on Bowmen's defensive acumen.  Do we think he has the goods??

🧠 Shane Bowen's Defensive Acumen
1. Scheme Versatility
Bowen comes from the Mike Vrabel coaching tree, which emphasizes multiple fronts and adaptability.

He typically uses a 3-4 base defense, but his units are flexible — often shifting into 4-man fronts or hybrid looks based on the opponent.

2. Pressure-Centric Philosophy
Known for disguising blitzes and pressures, often creating confusion for quarterbacks.

Uses zone blitz concepts and packages that get pressure with both linebackers and DBs.

In 2022, the Titans ranked top 10 in QB pressures and sacks.

3. Run Defense Emphasis
Bowen-coached units in Tennessee were consistently strong against the run.

Titans ranked #1 in rush defense in 2022, allowing only 76.9 rushing yards per game.

Gap integrity, disciplined fronts, and stout interior line play are cornerstones.

4. Development of Players
Helped develop players like Jeffery Simmons, Harold Landry, and Denico Autry into high-impact defenders.

Good at identifying and maximizing role players — emphasizes fundamentals and situational awareness.

5. Third-Down and Red Zone Effectiveness
Focuses on "money downs" — strong red zone and third-down defensive packages.

Titans regularly finished near the top of the league in third-down defense efficiency under him.

[babywhales]

Good report. I think the reality in the league is most offensive formations will have three WRs in 11 Personnel. That will require three Cornerbacks in Nickel. I believe the Giants will maintain two Safeties on the field. That sets up five Defensive Backs. From there, two off ball inside Linebackers, two edge and two DT. In Heavy Run Defense, I see Dex, and two DTs. In third and long, I see Dex, Carter, Burns, and Thibs on the LOS. I see a mix of Thibs and Carter on one side and Burns on the other side with a two Edge Set. I see McFadden and Carter rotating and Okereke as the Mike. We should see Okereke taking 100% of snaps. I see Dru Phillips on the field a lot. The big adjustments as you outlined will be the mix of the LBr/ Edge and the Defensive Line groups. 3-3, 4-2, 5-1, and some disguise dropbacks in Zone, some in Blitz. It's a great situation to scheme for a DC. Bowen should be licking his chops dialing up those packages. If they stay healthy, I expect a top ten Defense.

A breakdown of NFL personnel tendency
NFL Offensive Personnel Tendency Stats | SumerSports

Formation Tendency
NFL Offensive Formation Tendency Stats | SumerSports

[Ed Vette]

A breakdown of NFL personnel tendency
NFL Offensive Personnel Tendency Stats | SumerSports

Formation Tendency
NFL Offensive Formation Tendency Stats | SumerSports

There is so much to read into those formation rankings from an Offensive perspective, Chris. You can start a thread just on that. It shows strong side tendencies. I'd like to see the 1x3 and 3x1 alignments and player position. TE, inline Nubs and % of route running. 2x2 WRs and 10 Personnel is low compared to the College Ranks.

[Bob In PA]

J: Insightful. IMO for almost every NFL team, for multiple reasons, it always seems to come down to whether you can "win" on passing downs when rushing only four men (whether or not there's also a spy on the QB). Bob

[Jclayton92]

Since Bowen runs a 7 man spacing concept I figured I'd post this so people can visually see it.

[Bob In PA]

Since Bowen runs a 7 man spacing concept I figured I'd post this so people can visually see it.

You see why (1) it's important to have two really good LB's in this defense; (2) Carter might turn out to be one of them more often than anyone currently expects; and (3) depending on Thibodeaux's level of improvement, Carter might find himself there a lot more than even HE expects. Bob

[Ed Vette]

Since Bowen runs a 7 man spacing concept I figured I'd post this so people can visually see it.

Since Bowen runs a 7 man spacing concept I figured I'd post this so people can visually see it.

I predict we see Dex lined up 0 or Nose Shade and one on one with the Center a few times a game. This might be the best support group of DT/DEs that he's had.

[Jclayton92]

I predict we see Dex lined up 0 or Nose Shade and one on one with the Center a few times a game. This might be the best support group of DT/DEs that he's had.

I agree!