The Giants head into the 2023 season looking to build momentum off of last year's playoff run. Pieces have been added via free agency and the draft, but are the Giants ready to take that next step towards becoming a Super Bowl contender?

Let's take a look at how the Giants are shaping up at each position, focusing this time on the D-line...

DL Projected Depth Chart

Defensive end: Leonard Williams

Nose tackle: Dexter Lawrence

Defensive tackle: A’Shawn Robinson

Outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, Azeez Ojulari

Key reserves: Jihad Ward, Oshane Ximines, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, D.J. Davidson

Otther reserves/practice squad: Ryder Anderson, Vernon Butler, Jordon Riley (R), Habakkuk Baldonado (R), Tomon Fox, Elerson Smith

Overview

Right from the jump, it’s important to note that in Wink Martindale’s defense, official positions are used pretty loosely. In fact, Martindale has talked many times about how his scheme is “position-less.”

So when we talk about the defensive line here, we’re going to include some of the edge rushers who are technically listed as linebackers but typically spend most of their time going after the quarterback and setting the edge in run plays.

Martindale loves to change up the looks he gives an opposing offense, but the Giants are typically in a nickel look (five DBs on the field) with two off-ball linebackers and a four-man front. And while a lot can change up front on any given play, the Giants will just about always have a great two-man punch in the middle of the line with Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. Lawrence is a rising star, fresh off signing a four-year, $90 million contract extension this offseason. Williams had some knee and neck issues last season, but when he’s on the field there’s no denying his ability to push the pocket, even though he had just 2.5 sacks in 2022.

Big Blue has some extremely talented youngsters that can come screaming off the edge in Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari. The Giants finished around the middle of the pack last season with 41 sacks as a team, but there’s reason to believe that number can improve in a big way as players get more familiar with the scheme.

The Giants also added veteran A'Shawn Robinson late in the offseason, giving them another big body (6-foot-3, 320 pounds) that they can have on the field to stuff the run in short-yardage situations.

Martindale is going to be aggressive with different blitzes and looks in the secondary, but the defensive front is the foundation and the key to what the Giants do as a defensive unit.

Key Concern: Depth on the edge

Thibodeaux (22 years old) and Ojulari (23 years old when the regular season starts) give the Giants two dynamic rushers off the edge. But Thibodeaux missed some time at the beginning of the season with a knee injury and Ojulari had a calf issue that landed him on the IR.

Jihad Ward ended up playing 58 percent of the defensive snaps, his most playing time since his rookie season of 2016 with the Raiders, but can he once again be relied on to provide depth on the end of the line of scrimmage?

Ward tied a career-best with 3.0 sacks last season, but how much depth is there when you get past his name on the depth chart? Oshane Ximines, a third-round pick in 2019, had a strong rookie season but hasn’t been a huge contributor since, totaling just 2.0 sacks in 29 games since the start of the 2020 season.

The Giants had 19 different players with at least a partial sack last season, but only Lawrence and Ojulari had more than 5.0. Big Blue will need some of their role players to step up and get to the quarterback at a higher clip than they did last season.

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