Being the third wheel in a trio of edge-rushers, behind Abdul Carter and Brian Burns, doesn’t need to hold Kayvon Thibodeaux back in 2026. Not when the outside linebacker, who is targeting a career turning point during a contract season, is expected to be used like a famed New York Giants’ Super Bowl winner in new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson’s schemes.
That’s the nugget revealed by Brandon London of New York Post Sports. He pointed out how “Wilson’s pressure packages are built to manufacture snaps for rotational rushers. And there’s already talk (of) moving Kavon to the inside as a standup rusher to use his get off against guards instead of tackles. Kind of like how they used Justin Tuck in his early years on that defense.”
A Tuck-like situational role for Thibodeaux, where he gets to slide inside in obvious passing situations, is one of the smartest usage plans proposed for the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft who has spent most of this offseason being touted for trade as the forgotten man on a new-look front seven.
Justin Tuck Plan Can Get Kayvon Thibodeaux Paid
Getting to play like Tuck can get Thibodeaux paid next offseason. Either by the Giants or one of the many would-be trade suitors apparently still circling the 25-year-old.
The Giants will have good reason to pay up and keep Thibodeaux around if he can emulate what made Tuck a breakout sensation early in his decorated career. Fortunately, there are similarities between both players’ situations.
Back in 2007, Tuck was a rotational piece for a new defensive coordinator implementing a scheme based on elaborate pressure designs and moving parts. Steve Spagnuolo mixed things up most on football’s money down, when Tuck, a defensive end drafted in the third round two years earlier, would enter the game and become a pass-rushing menace along the interior. One who tormented Tom Brady and the 18-0 New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
GettyTuck was a vital moving part of pass-rush trios that helped the Giants beat Tom Brady in two Super Bowls.
Tuck shifted to defensive tackle because he was bookended by the Giants’ two stars on the edge, Osi Umenyiora and the great Michael Strahan. It’s not unlike how Thibodeaux finds himself looking up at star attractions Burns and Carter today.
Like Tuck, Thibodeaux appears primed to benefit from a similar work-share plan involving Wilson’s creative use of the Giants’ star quarterback hunters.
Giants Primed to Be Creative Rushing the Passer
London revealing the potential new strategy for getting Thibodeaux involved continues a theme for Giants’ edge-rushers. One already teased by Burns, who described the secret method to the madness in Wilson’s plan to move pressure specialists around to create confusion and favorable matchups.
Thibodeaux can benefit most because he enjoyed his lone breakout season, logging 11.5 sacks in 2023, playing for former Giants DC Don ‘Wink’ Martindale. The latter, who worked with new Giants’ boss John Harbaugh for the Baltimore Ravens, also designed and called defenses based on shifting players around to manufacture pressure from all angles.
Wilson letting Thibodeaux line up inside more often will maximize the 6-foot-5, 258-pounder‘s towering and beefy frame. Getting to attack downhill also means a streamlined pass-rush plan for Thibodeaux, one that should yield more sacks and give the Giants a tricky, but welcome financial problem to have in 2027.
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