This most likely won’t happen because it almost never happens.
However, given that Dexter Lawrence isn’t getting smaller, weaker, or less likely to dominate, there’s certainly a chance the Giants’ best player achieves what a center fielder shouldn’t put on his resume.
Big Dex could actually finish this season leading the NFL in sacks.
Dexter Lawrence (right) and Azeez Ojulari sack Jalen Hurts during the Giants’ Week 7 loss to the Eagles. Paintings by Vincent Carchietta
“He’s got the pace now, so … he’s doing a great job,” center fielder Bobby Okereke said Wednesday.
For the Giants, this is one of many wasteful aspects of this season.
They are 2-5 and seemingly going nowhere unless they head to Pittsburgh soon for Monday’s game against the Steelers.
Tucked away in yet another losing campaign, it’s one of the greatest moments for a defensive player in the history of a franchise that is celebrating its 100th anniversary.
Lawrence leads the NFL with nine sacks in seven games.
That puts him ahead of the Jets’ Will McDonald (eight sacks), the Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson (7.5 sacks, but is sidelined for the rest of the season), the Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson (7) and the Ravens’ Kyle Van Noy (7).
All of these players make their living as edge rushers, which is where the bag leaders almost always hang out. Lawrence, as a 340-pounder, must control the running game and punch to the head.
Dexter Lawrence tackles Jalen Hurts during the Giants’ Week 7 loss to the Eagles. Noah K. Murray/New York Post
Bags are almost never a generous payment.
Of the 33 players who have led the league since it became an official statistic in 1982, only three have been in line for the league’s interior: Hall of Famer John Randle (15.5 sacks in 1997), La. ‘Roi Glover (17 sacks in 2000) and future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald.
His 20.5 sacks in 2018 not only led the NFL, but also set the standard among interior defenders.
And now Dexter Lawrence comes along and tries to take advantage of him.
“No, I don’t think anyone ever suspected that a nose tackle meant leading the league in sacks,” linebacker Jon Runyan Jr. said.
Dexter Lawrence tackles Saquon Barkley during the Giants’ Week 7 loss to the Eagles. AP
With six sacks in his last three games, Lawrence is flirting with rarefied air.
His nine sacks are the most by a Giants player through the first seven weeks of a season since Hall of Famer Michael Strahan had 12.5 in 2001 – the year he broke the NFL record with 22.5 sacks (since tied by TJ Watt of the Steelers in 2021 ).
Leonard Marshall had 11.5 sacks in his first seven games for the Giants in 1985.
Lawrence, 26, is on pace to have 22 sacks.
“Honestly, it’s not just me,” Lawrence said. “It’s the game plans, it’s the DBs, but also the guys outside of me who are also in a hurry. I do what I can, whenever I can. Whenever I can get that one-on-one play or when I have to get to the ball quickly – on high-pressure plays – it’s more than just the numbers that translate into me getting sacks.
Dexter Lawrence talks to Saquon Barkley after the Giants’ Week 7 loss to the Eagles. Noah K. Murray/New York Post
The sacks are gone – Lawrence’s previous career best in 2022 was 7.5 per season – but mistreating centers and defenders is a way of life for a player who has signed until 2027 on a four-year contract worth 87.5 million dollars.
It’s no secret what his opponents think of him.
According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence has been dual-teamed on 63.3 percent of his pass rushes this season.
This is the highest rate any player has experienced (minimum 100 passes) since at least 2018.
“Dexter Lawrence is a problem,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said this week. “He causes problems in the running game. He is a problem in the passing game. I think he’s running the NFL unscathed, but he’s just a dominant, dominant player.
Thanks largely to Lawrence, the Giants lead the league with 31 points, with Brian Burns (4) and Azeez Ojulari (4) next in line, but well behind their powerful teammate.
Runyan spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Packers and knew what it was like to play against Lawrence as an opponent.
Experiencing Lawrence as a teammate is more enjoyable.
“Every year when you go through the schedule, you look around and think about all the guys you have in front of you,” Runyan said. “I played the Giants twice with Dexter as my opponent and it was always one of those games you think about, knowing you’re going to get one of the best in the business and you’re going to have to bring your A-game with you when it comes to that.
“But to come here and be on this side and see him as more than just a player or a teammate or a person is phenomenal in every way.”
Including an aspect that no one expected: the firing of the NFL’s leader.
Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning advanced to the next round of voting for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class in a group that included former Defensive Players of the Year Luke Kuechly and Terrell Suggs and prolific quarterback Antonio Gates.
On Wednesday, Hall announced a list of 50 modern-era candidates, up from an original list of 167 after a vote by a newly formed selection committee.
Then, in about four weeks, the full selection committee will narrow down the list of nominees to 25 semifinalists.
15 finalists will then be selected to attend the annual pre-Super Bowl meeting, where the new class will be created.
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