At the beginning of this season the New York Giants were hopeful that their pass rush would turn things around and become an effective, if not an elite unit.
Through ten games that has not materialized. They have 24 sacks this season, an average of 2.4 per game, which is up from 2018 (1.875 per game) but still not the result they were expecting.
Outside linebacker Marcus Golden, signed as a free agent this past March, leads the team with 6.5 sacks followed by defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence and Dalvin Tomlinson and outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter who all have 2.5.
Carter and this year’s third round pick, OLB Oshane Ximines, were being counted on take huge steps forward to lift the defense. Especially Carter.
“I think that everyone wants to be that competitor. They want to put themselves in that position and I know Lorenzo does,” said outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson.
“I know that he is a competitive guy, just being with him day in and day out. He wants to make those splash plays and I think you can look at a whole bunch of different factors. He’s been a guy that we have been able to move around. You see him on the ball, off the ball, he’s in coverage, he’s rushing, he’s doing different things that way. That’s a unique skill set that he has. I know there’s plays that he wants to be a step closer, accelerate a little more or do things like that. I think he is definitely holding himself to that high standard still and continues to work that. We have six more weeks to put the pedal to the metal with him. Hopefully those numbers start to come.”
Carter, who is second to Golden (15) on the team in QB hits with eight, has appeared to be just a little late on a lot of plays. Perhaps he can improve his reaction time and angles to the football.
As for Ximines, it’s more about getting the opportunities than anything else. He plays the same position as Carter and Golden. He has been in on 48% of the defensive snaps and has collected only two sacks. By contrast, Golden has been on the field 805 of the time and Carter has played 68% of the snaps.
“Oshane has been working his butt off and hopefully we keep getting him in the right direction,” said Dawson.
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