New York Giants: Best players of the PFF era

• Odell Beckham Jr. is a Giants great: Beckham has struggled with injuries and bounced between teams over the past few years, but we shouldn’t forget how impactful he was in his first few years with the New York Giants.

• Dexter Lawrence manning the defensive front: Lawrence has graded above 90.0 in each of the last two seasons, and his 92.9 from the 2023 season is the best grade ever earned by a Giants interior defender.

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PFF has collected football data since the 2006 NFL season. That allows us to look back at almost two decades of grades and numbers and pick out the best seasons at each position.

Here are the top players at each position for the New York Giants in that span and some key takeaways from the data. Sign up for PFF+ today to unlock advanced NFL grades and statistics dating back to 2006. 

QB: Eli Manning (2011, 88.2 PFF Grade)
RB: Saquon Barkley (2018, 85.6)
WR: Odell Beckham Jr. (2014, 90.8)
WR: Hakeem Nicks (2011, 89.8)
WR: Steve Smith (2009, 82.5)
TE: Kevin Boss (2008, 84.5)
LT: Andrew Thomas (2022, 90.7)
LG: Rich Seubert (2008, 90.2)
C: Shaun O’Hara (2009, 84.2)
RG: Chris Snee (2008, 92.0)
RT: Kareem McKenzie (2008, 87.2)

Edge: Olivier Vernon (2018, 88.4)
Edge: Michael Strahan (2007, 86.2)
DI: Dexter Lawrence (2023, 92.9)
DI: Damon Harrison Sr. (2017, 90.9)
LB: Bobby Okereke (2023, 79.6)
LB: Blake Martinez (2020, 75.9)
CB: Corey Webster (2008, 91.7)
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (2016, 90.2)
S: Will Hill III (2013, 89.0)
S: Xavier McKinney (2023, 87.5)

K: Graham Gano (2022, 90.4)
P: Jamie Gillan (2022, 69.8)
K/PR: Dwayne Harris (2015, 74.4)
ST: Kerry Wynn (2017, 90.5)

*minimum 500 snaps except for running back (minimum of 100 carries)

The Giants’ No. 1 wide receiver

Odell Beckham Jr. has struggled with injuries and bounced between teams over the past few years, but we shouldn’t forget how impactful he was in his first few years with the New York Giants.

OBJ earned an 85.0-plus receiving grade in each of his three full seasons with the Giants, with his career-high of 91.2 coming in his rookie year. Not only was that the best mark in the league in 2014, but it’s also the best single-season grade ever earned by a Giants wide receiver.

Oh, what the current team would give for the 2008/09 offensive line

The Giants’ offensive line has faced a lot of criticism recently, but back in 2008 and 2009, it was one of the best units in the league. Over that two-season stretch, all five starters — Chris Snee (92.6), Kareem McKenzie (90.2), Rich Seubert (89.8), Shaun O’Hara (85.8) and David Diehl (76.4) — graded above 75.0, with four of those players surpassing the 85.0 mark.

The unit gave up pressure on just 23.0% of passing plays over the 2008 and 2009 seasons. From 2022 to 2023, the Giants offensive line gave up pressure on 33.0% of passing plays.

A dominant nose tackle in the middle of New York’s defensive front…where have we seen that before? 

Dexter Lawrence doesn’t get enough appreciation for his achievements because he aligns mostly as a true nose tackle within the Giants defense. The five-year pro has graded above 90.0 in each of the last two seasons, and his 92.9 from the 2023 season is the best grade ever earned by a Giants interior defender.

Lawrence recorded 65 total pressures over the 2023 campaign, tied for fourth among interior linemen. However, 41 of those came when he aligned as a nose tackle, 30 more than the next-closest player at that position.

It wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about another elite (and somewhat unheralded) Giants nose tackle: Damon “Snacks” Harrison. Snacks played 1,613 snaps for the Giants between 2016 and 2018, with 1,033 of those snaps coming from a nose tackle alignment. He graded above 89.0 in all three seasons of his Giants career and notably racked up a colossal 108 run stops, five more than the next closest interior defender (and that doesn’t even count the 30 more he added as a Detroit Lion after the Giants traded him mid-season in 2018).