Dexter Lawrence’s trade demands had the Giants looking at a full-blown defensive headache earlier this offseason, but training camp has started to make that decision look a whole lot less dangerous.
General manager Joe Schoen and new head coach John Harbaugh were staring at a tough call with the 6-foot-4, 340-pound defensive lineman. Instead of paying to keep Sexy Dexy happy, they held their ground, moved their defensive cornerstone to the Cincinnati Bengals, and trusted the rest of the roster to hold up.
So far, that bet has not blown up in their faces.
The biggest reason is DJ Reader. The veteran lineman was brought in to help soften the blow of losing Lawrence, and early camp buzz has been strong enough that Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay recently called the 32-year-old one of the biggest free-agent steals of training camp.
Reader still hasn’t played a preseason snap for the Giants, but the early signs are hard to ignore. At 6-foot-3 and 330 pounds, he has looked like the kind of immovable presence New York hoped it was getting - the sort of body that can swallow space and make an offense miserable.
That has shown up in the padded work. Reader has been living in the middle of the line, clogging lanes and forcing linemen to deal with him all day.
In one camp session, he burst through the line for a tackle for loss, then came right back through again for a sack. For a team looking for run-stuffing help, that is exactly the kind of impact they wanted.
He did exactly what they signed him to do: clog gaps and eat double teams.
That matters because the ripple effect can be real. If Reader is drawing extra attention inside, it should open things up for Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the edge. The idea is simple: make the middle ugly, and the pass rush gets cleaner looks.
The Giants also used the deal to land the 10th pick, and that turned into offensive lineman Francis "Sisi" Mauigoa. The 21-year-old rookie has been one of the standouts of camp, showing off a rare mix of power and quick feet for a 6-foot-6, 330-pound lineman. He has been stonewalling defenders almost as soon as the ball is snapped.
None of this erases the risk that came with moving on from Lawrence. Schoen and Harbaugh took plenty of heat for the decision, and a good training camp alone won’t settle the argument.
But the early return has been about as encouraging as the Giants could have hoped. They have saved serious money over the next two years, improved the run defense, and may have found a long-term piece on the offensive line in Mauigoa. That’s a pretty strong first chapter for a trade that looked risky not long ago.
In Other News...
Jameis Winston Debate Is Creating A Giants Problem That May Not Exist
The talk around Jameis Winston has picked up because training camp always has a way of turning every backup quarterback into a plot point, and in this case the speculation has been unusually loud. Pat Pickens of Athlon Sports floated the idea that Winston could be cut or traded before Week 1, citing concerns about his camp and his off-field media work, but that chatter runs counter to what has been coming out of practice in recent days.
Reports from The Athletic and other commentary suggest Winston has actually been handling himself well on the field and remains on track to stay in the Giants backup quarterback role. The organization is said to value him, and there is no confirmed sign of an imminent move, which leaves the whole debate looking more like a camp-season overreaction than an actual roster problem, at least for now. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Center Battle Suddenly Feels Bigger Than Just Camp Depth
With John Michael Schmitz and Lucas Patrick both unavailable, Bryan Hudson has suddenly been thrust into the center of the Giants camp conversation. The undrafted rookie from 2024, who has spent time on practice squads, has been getting first-team work at center and using the opening to show he belongs in a bigger role than depth filler.
For a position group already carrying questions because of Schmitzs uneven play and Patricks injury history, Hudsons reps have added a layer of intrigue to what once looked like a routine backup job. The Giants are still sorting out the pecking order, and the next few practices could say plenty about whether Hudson is merely holding the line or making a real case to stick. [Read more 🡒]