Dexter Lawrence didn't want to be a New York Giant any longer this offseason, and the team traded him away. That created both positive and negative reactions from internal and external sources.
The positive was that they got the No. 10 overall selection in the Lawrence deal with Cincinnati and chose Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. The negative was the void left behind by Lawrence. The Giants have added a slew of players to help offset the loss, but questions remain in the trenches on defense.
In a recent list from Pro Football Focusranking every NFL defensive line heading into the 2026 season, the Giants came in 21st out of 32 teams.
Abdul Carter established himself as a high-end pass rusher as a rookie, earning an 84.5 PFF pass-rush grade
and generating 66 pressures on 507 pass-rushing snaps. Fellow edge defenders Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux combined for another 85 pressures, giving New York plenty of reason to feel confident about its edge group.
The concern is on the interior, where all three projected starters earned PFF run-defense grades below 65.0 last season.
As you can see, the Giants are strong on the perimeter and at linebacker, which should ease the pressure on the starting down linemen -- Darius Alexander and free-agent vets Shelby Harris and D.J. Reader.
The Giants are loaded at inside linebacker with free-agent add Tremaine Edmunds, rookies Arvell Reese and Jack Kelly, Micah McFadden and Darius Muasau.
Alexander, a third-round pick out of Toledo last year, came on strong last season and appears to have picked up right where he left off. Last week he had a sack in the Giants' preseason opener against Minnesota.
Harris and Reader are two established vets the Giants hope will anchor the line rotation along with Alexander and rookie Bobby Jamison-Travis, aka Bobby Traffic Jam. It looks as if they're not totally content with this group and could still add a veteran before the season.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Where does PFF rank New York Giants' defensive line?
