Going from worst to first in the NFC East headlined by the Super Bowl champions sounds like the stuff dreams are made of for the New York Giants, but one NFL running back is convinced it can happen in 2025, thanks to a unit he already believes is the “best” in the game.
Free agent Chase Edmonds appeared on an episode of “Good Morning Football” and told NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt why the Giants can shock the league. It’s all to do with the San Francisco 49ers.
Edmonds explained, “I’m going to make the case that the Giants can go from worst to first because I believe, arguably, they’ll have the best defensive line unit in football,” he said. “I get a really nostalgic 49ers feeling when the Niners had drafted Nick Bosa with the second pick. Do you know where they ended up, Kyle, that year? They ended up in the Super Bowl.”
While former Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers runner Edmonds doesn’t envisage the Giants lifting the Lombardi Trophy this season, he does “believe that with the best defensive line unit in football, you have a factor where you can have a lot of plays that just get messed up and that’s something that the X’s and O’s cannot solve.”
This is one of the wildest predictions involving a team that went 3-14 in 2024, but while some may doubt Edmonds’ confidence, there’s no denying the Giants are building something scary up front.
Giants’ D-Line is a Matchup Eqializer
What the Giants have constructed is a matchup equalizer, a group set to give them a chance in any game. That flexibility comes from the talent and variety Big Blue has stockpiled on the defensive side of the trenches.
It starts with 2025 NFL draft No. 3 pick Abdul Carter, a gifted and roving rusher the Giants are set to use in “terrifying” ways. Carter will line up everywhere, while fellow edge defender Brian Burns is also likely to move around more often.
As if Carter and Burns getting to pick their attack points isn’t enough, the Giants also have yet another flexible quarterback hunter with superstar potential. There’s even 2022’s seventh-overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux still around to focus on rushing off the edge, just for good measure.
It takes a while to call the roll of outside pass-rushers who can wreck games for the Giants, but opponents won’t forget about the force along the interior. Namely, All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II, who’s in a world by himself when it comes to collapsing the pocket from over the ball.
Lawrence has been a one-man band for too long, but he should get some credible help this season. Help from a capable veteran like Roy Robertson-Harris who can create pressure from both defensive end and tackle, while a rookie amoeba also has the upside to create havoc from multiple alignments.
This many talented disruptors prompted ex-NFL offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse to tell ESPN’s Mina Kimes opponents will have to “stay out of third down. Or we’re staying outta third and long.” Doing that means “you’ve got to run at this defensive front. You’ve gotta stay ahead of the chains.”
That’s a sound strategy when the Giants struggled against the run last season, yielding 4.6 yards per carry. Fixing this problem is just one part of the uphill battle the Giants still face in a loaded division.
Giants Still Outmanned in Division
Their defensive front will be a nightmare for offenses in passing situations, but it may not be enough for the Giants to escape the basement of the East. Not when the Philadelphia Eagles ran over them twice with the Giants’ own former Pro Bowl back Saquon Barkley.
He helped the Eagles win it all, but the Washington Commanders were their closest rivals, thanks to dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels. The second-year signal-caller has the kind of star power at football’s most important position the Giants have only been able to dream about for years.
Then there’s the Dallas Cowboys, a team the Giants haven’t beaten since the 2020 season. Dismal recent history and an offense that still isn’t close to matching the elite talent of their rivals mean the Giants will find it tough matching Edmonds’ prediction.
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