Giants Now: Sports Illustrated chooses Kayvon Thibodeaux as Giants’ most underrated player

Sports Illustrated chooses Kayvon Thibodeaux as Giants’ most underrated player

Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr recently selected the most underrated player from every team across the NFL.

When it came to the Giants, third-year outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux was the choice.

“Thibodeaux turned into a really solid run defender in his second season and was able to clearly showcase and define his maturity,” wrote Orr. “Thibodeaux played in the most unique NFL defense last year. The Wink Martindale system was a complete outlier in terms of general philosophy—I thought it fit the team’s situation but may not be a long-term solution—but now we’ll get the chance to see him paired with both a legitimate threat on the other side (trade acquisition Brian Burns) and a system run by new coordinator Shane Bowen that has generated consistent productivity from its edge defenders.”

Thibodeaux recored four sacks and six tackles for loss across 14 games as a rookie, which helped him finish fourth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

The outside linebacker then took a big step in 2023, increasing those numbers to 11.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in addition to three forced fumbles and four passes defensed while playing all 17 games.

As Orr mentioned, Thibodeaux will now line up on the opposite end of the line as Burns, who registered eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 18 quarterback hits, one forced fumble and two passes defensed across 16 games last season.

Since the offseason trade was completed, the two outside linebackers have been spending a lot of time together, and have already been testing out new sack celebrations.

The trio of Thibodeaux, Burns and Dexter Lawrence, all of whom will enter the season below the age of 27, combined for 148 quarterback pressures last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Last month, Thibodeaux took part in the “Giants 100: A Night with Legends” event, where he got the chance to chat with numerous franchise greats, including Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan.

Thibodeaux recently recapped some of the things he discussed with the Giants legends in a conversation with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, which can be found below.