Giants’ Defense Could Still Improve Without Dexter Lawrence, ESPN Analysts Say

The New York Giants traded away one of the best interior defensive linemen in football this offseason, and somehow ESPN analysts still like where the defense is headed. Dexter Lawrence II is gone, sent to the Cincinnati Bengals in a deal that reshaped both rosters ahead of the 2026 draft. But according to Mina Kimes, the Giants’ defense could actually take a step forward this season — not despite losing Lawrence, but because of what New York did to compensate for it.

The trade itself was a jolt for Giants fans. New York sent Lawrence to Cincinnati in exchange for the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, according to NFL Network, which reported that Lawrence had requested the move after contract extension talks with the Giants stalled out. The Bengals turned around and signed him to a one-year, $28 million extension. The Giants used the extra draft capital on offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa, who is now projected to start at right guard.

Losing a three-time Pro Bowler and the anchor of the interior line was never going to be a clean swap. Lawrence had struggled through a difficult 2025 season by his standards, finishing with a career-low 31 tackles and just half a sack in 17 games, but he remained the identity of that defensive front for seven years in New York. His exit leaves a real hole for new head coach John Harbaugh to address in his first season running the Giants.

Why Kimes and Spears think the defense can still improve

That’s what makes the ESPN take notable. Speaking on ESPN’s NFL coverage, Mina Kimes argued that New York’s defense — now fronted by Abdul Carter and Brian Burns off the edge — should be improved in 2026 even accounting for what Lawrence’s departure costs them up front.

“I think they should be improved, even with the loss of Dexter Lawrence, and that is a massive loss, literally,” Kimes said. “But they did a few things I love. One of which was to shore up the linebacker position, which is something, by the way, John Harbaugh knows the importance of.”

Kimes’ reasoning centers on where the Giants were actually broken last year. New York had explosive pass rushers but couldn’t stop the run, and the numbers back that up — the Giants allowed 145.3 rushing yards per game in 2025, the second-worst mark in the league.

“It was such a weakness for them last year, and a big part of why they were abysmal in run defense,” Kimes said. “The Giants have really, really talented pass rushers, but they’re not big.”

Fellow ESPN analyst Marcus Spears made a similar point, tying the linebacker additions directly to the way Harbaugh wants his defenses to play. Spears pointed to speed and pursuit angles as the traits that could define the unit this season.

“All of those linebackers can run. They can get sideline to sideline. How fast they diagnose, how fast they get to the football is going to be paramount,” Spears said. “When you start talking about athletes that can move around in space, that can find the football, and how they will probably swarm because that’s the culture that he’s setting, this defense should be markedly improved.”

Spears also credited Harbaugh’s track record for instilling that kind of identity, pointing back to his run with the Baltimore Ravens, including their Super Bowl-winning 2012 season that carried into 2013, as evidence he knows how to build a defense around speed and physicality.

What actually changed at linebacker

The linebacker overhaul Kimes and Spears are describing is real and significant. New York used the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 draft on Ohio State’s Arevell Reese, who racked up 112 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks last season and is expected to start at Will linebacker as a rookie. The Giants also added Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds, replacing a Bobby Okereke–Micah McFadden pairing that struggled to hold up against the run in 2025.

That run defense collapse is the backdrop for everything Kimes and Spears are describing. A defensive line built around Burns, Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux can generate pressure on obvious passing downs, but if opposing offenses can run the ball at will on early downs, that pass rush never gets the chance to matter. Faster, more decisive linebackers are meant to fix the problem at its source — getting bodies to the ball before a five-yard run turns into fifteen.

None of that guarantees anything. Reese is a rookie stepping into a starting role right away, and speed on paper doesn’t always translate to instincts against NFL run schemes in Week 1. But the logic behind the ESPN analysis is straightforward: the Giants didn’t just lose a good player in Lawrence, they used the return on that trade, plus free agency, to fix the specific thing that was breaking their defense last season.