New York Giants: Post-draft defensive line breakdown

The Giants picked up a Week 1 starter with the number 17 pick, Dexter Lawrence as well as adding some depth to the defensive tackle position.

If you looked up New York Giants general manager, Dave Gettleman’s favorite expression “hog molly” in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Clemson DT Dexter Lawrence. the three year Tigers starter is 6-4, 342 pounds. He is a very large, athletic man that will make it very hard for running backs to take the ball up the middle.

A dominant run stopper in college, he was an integral part of Clemson’s defensive line. In three years Lawrence had 18 tackles for loss including seven during last season’s National Championship run.

Lawrence’s biggest obstacle right now is that there is a surplus of big run stoppers on the Giants defensive line. New York could have chosen to keep Harrison who is one of the best, if not the best, run stopper in the league. The coaches, however, believe that Lawrence can be a three-down player, who can stop the run and get some pressure on the quarterback.

Head coach Pat Shurmur had high praise for the former Clemson star:

"He’s a guy that can play the run and rush the passer. When you pick a guy from Clemson, and he’s played on the biggest stage there is in college football… this isn’t going to be too big for him. We’re looking forward to getting him going.”"

The team also selected Syracuse defensive end Chris Slayton in the seventh round (245 overall) of the draft. At 6-4, 310 pounds, Slayton is another prototypical Gettleman defensive lineman. He played four seasons for the Orange making 104 tackles, 30.5 of which resulted in negative yardage. Slayton will add to the D-Line’s depth and allow for more rotations.