Edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux has gone from a potential trade chip in a crowded group of edge rushers to one of the centerpieces of the New York Giants‘ front seven.
Suddenly equally dominant against the run as he has quickly become as a pass rusher through the season’s first six games, Thibodeaux says that balance didn’t come by accident or happenstance. Rather, it’s the byproduct of one of the more physically intense offseasons he’s crafted to date during his playing career.
“Well, the funny thing about offseason training is that nothing is ever perfect, right?” Thibodeaux told reporters Monday. “There’s no drill. There’s no one thing that you can do that guarantees you success on the field. But I will say that there was definitely a lot of emphasis that I put on this offseason, just honing in on my craft and honing in on my discipline and becoming more mature as a run defender and a pass defender.
“I think my whole career, not just in the NFL, but in college, I took pride in the run game. And for me coming to this next level, I understood how important it was and how I needed to improve on not just a run, but on the pass to be a four-down player. So, we always kind of say, like, you got to stop the run to be able to get the opportunity to rush the passer. So, I’ve taken pride in that this year.”
Through the season’s first six games, Thibodeaux is second on the team in sacks, with 2.5, trailing only Brian Burns’ seven, while adding five tackles for loss which underscores how disruptive he has been in opposing backfields.
Moreover, Thibodeaux seems to be not just playing the best football of his career, but finally reaching the potential that the Giants saw when they chose him No. 5 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
And, rival scouts are taking notice.
“Kayvon is a really gifted player,” an NFL scout recently told Between The Hashmarks. “And he looks to be getting close to becoming the player he has the tools to be.”
Surrounded by elite talent and finally delivering on his own draft-day promise, Thibodeaux could help turn the Giants’ long-term investment in the pass rush into a short-term nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.
Joe Schoen, Giants Trying to Buy Ahead of NFL Trade Deadline
Ishika Samant | Getty ImagesGeneral manager Joe Schoen and the New York Giants could aim to add a wide receiver in the weeks ahead.
Rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo‘s emergence seems to have changed the calculous for general manager Joe Schoen and the Giants, as the NFL trade deadline looms.
After losing Malik Nabers to a torn ACL three weeks, ago Schoen and the Giants are actively shopping for wide receiver help, to bolster Dart’s supporting cast, according to NFL Network reporting.
“The Giants have called teams for receiver help,” Mike Garafolo and Ian Rappoport report. “After losing Malik Nabers to a season-ending knee injury, but as always at this time of year, teams are hesitant to part with good, contributing players.”
Schoen’s aggressiveness is understandable, given that in addition to Nabers’ injury, Darius Slayton has also been banged up and the clock is ticking on both showing enough progress to save his job at season’s end and to evaluate Dart with a competent receiving corps around him.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post How Kayvon Thibodeaux is Emerging as Breakout Force in Giants’ Pass Rush appeared first on Heavy Sports.