Giants: Best Defensive Line in Football?

[Chris Raiden]

Who's your top defensive line overall in the NFL, including depth at the position?

I'd argue it's the New York Football Giants, and here's why:

LE: Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka
DT: Barry Cofield, Chris Canty
DT: Fred Robbins, Jay Alford, Rocky Bernard
RE: Osi Umenyiora

Not many teams that can roll that kind of depth at teams.

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

Who's your top defensive line overall in the NFL, including depth at the position?

I'd argue it's the New York Football Giants, and here's why:

LE: Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka
DT: Barry Cofield, Chris Canty
DT: Fred Robbins, Jay Alford, Rocky Bernard
RE: Osi Umenyiora

Not many teams that can roll that kind of depth at teams.

I'll take my own team in Philly thank you very much. FYI, last season we ranked higher in almost every major statistical defensive category than the Giants including rush defense.

LE: Victor Abiamiri, Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons
DT: Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws
DT: Brodrick Bunkley, Dan Klecko
RE: Trent Cole, Darren Howard

I think Philly's much stronger on the interior line than the Giants are. The only advantage they have over Philly is the presence of that 2nd household name at DE but I personally feel Umenyiora is dramatically overrated. What the Eagles lose not having that 2nd household name though they more than makeup for with an incredible amount of depth.

[BigBenCan7]

I'll take my own team in Philly thank you very much. FYI, last season we ranked higher in almost every major statistical defensive category than the Giants including rush defense.


I take it you think the Steelers have the best defensive line in the league then?

I'm sure your excuse will be that it' a 3-4, but the defensive line is every bit as important as the linebackers are in a 3-4 defense. Just because the linebackers get the stats doesn't mean they're the only ones doing the work.

[TexecutedInTampa]

I agree. They won the SB year before last, made an 18-0 team 18-1.

18-1 made MANY happy!

[MrSlurpee]

As much as I hate the Giants, I'm going to say they have the best DLine. They have the best depth of all teams in the NFL, and they are getting Osi back. Canty is an underrated player, and their rotation is going to be scary good. As long as the Giants can continue to do well without Spags, that line is going to be nuts.

I like the Eagles line at a close #2, but I don't think they have the same talent that the Giants line has.

[Chris Raiden]

I'll take my own team in Philly thank you very much. FYI, last season we ranked higher in almost every major statistical defensive category than the Giants including rush defense.

LE: Victor Abiamiri, Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons
DT: Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws
DT: Brodrick Bunkley, Dan Klecko
RE: Trent Cole, Darren Howard

I think Philly's much stronger on the interior line than the Giants are. The only advantage they have over Philly is the presence of that 2nd household name at DE but I personally feel Umenyiora is dramatically overrated. What the Eagles lose not having that 2nd household name though they more than makeup for with an incredible amount of depth.

Not a bad mix, and I agree they're a bit stronger up the middle.

However, with that said, I still take the ends the Giants have over what the Eagles have any day of the week, regardless of how overrated Umenyiora is (which I agree BTW, he is a tad overrated).

When you can go three deep with ends who can rack up between 8-12 sacks in a season, it's a good rotation. The Giants have that.

Up the middle, they're more above average than they are great, but it's still a very solid rotation of guys who can penetrate and stuff the run in the backfield. When you add a guy like Chris Canty to that mix (who I feel was one of the better 3-4 DEs in the game before leaving Dallas), it's even better.

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

Not a bad mix, and I agree they're a bit stronger up the middle.

However, with that said, I still take the ends the Giants have over what the Eagles have any day of the week, regardless of how overrated Umenyiora is (which I agree BTW, he is a tad overrated).

When you can go three deep with ends who can rack up between 8-12 sacks in a season, it's a good rotation. The Giants have that.

Up the middle, they're more above average than they are great, but it's still a very solid rotation of guys who can penetrate and stuff the run in the backfield. When you add a guy like Chris Canty to that mix (who I feel was one of the better 3-4 DEs in the game before leaving Dallas), it's even better.

Bad argument about the DE's. You're better off sticking to the lack of a clearcut big name at LDE.

First of all I take Trent Cole over any DE on both rosters. He's just as solid a pass rusher as any of them but is a larger force in the run game than any of them despite his size. The guy has led all DE's in tackles and tackles for a loss 2 seasons in a row now. NFL.com has the guy at 77 tackles last season and 70 the year before, Umenyiora has only had 1 season at that level in his entire career and it was 3 years ago.

Like I said, what hurts the Eagles at DE is not having that clear cut 2nd big name guy. However, you stated that having 3 DE's on the roster who can go for 8-12 sacks is what makes the Giants so strong at end. Well to that I present to you Chris Clemons who racked up 8 sacks just 2 seasons ago in a backup role for the woeful Raiders. Clemons has been in the system a full year now and while he wasn't a huge factor last season (neither was Osi) he is healthy and has a full understanding of the defense for the first time. I also present to you Darren Howard who registered 10 sacks as a backup last season rotating between DE and DT. The rotation is then filled out by Juqua Parker who is a better all around end than anybody currently on the Giants not named Osi or Tuck. Oh, and for kicks throw in highly anticipated Abiamiri who trumped em all for a starting spot despite hardly practicing this camp.

Yeah, i'll take Philly's line all day. You asked for 3 guys capable of 8-12 sacks at anytime, I gave them to you, and then I added in even MORE depth. If Abiamiri turns out to be what Tra Thomas predicted (almost unblockable) then this will no longer be a debate.

[Hawkeye]

Bad argument about the DE's. You're better off sticking to the lack of a clearcut big name at LDE.

First of all I take Trent Cole over any DE on both rosters. He's just as solid a pass rusher as any of them but is a larger force in the run game than any of them despite his size. The guy has led all DE's in tackles and tackles for a loss 2 seasons in a row now. NFL.com has the guy at 77 tackles last season and 70 the year before, Umenyiora has only had 1 season at that level in his entire career and it was 3 years ago.

Like I said, what hurts the Eagles at DE is not having that clear cut 2nd big name guy. However, you stated that having 3 DE's on the roster who can go for 8-12 sacks is what makes the Giants so strong at end. Well to that I present to you Chris Clemons who racked up 8 sacks just 2 seasons ago in a backup role for the woeful Raiders. Clemons has been in the system a full year now and while he wasn't a huge factor last season (neither was Osi) he is healthy and has a full understanding of the defense for the first time. I also present to you Darren Howard who registered 10 sacks as a backup last season rotating between DE and DT. The rotation is then filled out by Juqua Parker who is a better all around end than anybody currently on the Giants not named Osi or Tuck. Oh, and for kicks throw in highly anticipated Abiamiri who trumped em all for a starting spot despite hardly practicing this camp.

Yeah, i'll take Philly's line all day. You asked for 3 guys capable of 8-12 sacks at anytime, I gave them to you, and then I added in even MORE depth. If Abiamiri turns out to be what Tra Thomas predicted (almost unblockable) then this will no longer be a debate.

Is it possible that Osi doesn't get as many TFLs as Cole because the Giants DLine is stronger and there is more competition to get into the backfield so to speak? The Giants also have a guy at DT (Bernard) who has 8.5 sacks in a season and a guy certainly capable of that in Canty. I think the middle of the Giants' line is better than it was now that they added Canty and Bernard and can rival the interior of the Eagles.

While it's too soon to tell, I am interested to see what Maurice Evans brings to the table for the Giants. It's a pretty fine line to tread between who is better, but I would still take the Giants......and that has nothing to do with the silly notion that the Giants have more big names at DE. Howard is well-known even though he isn't a starter and the Eagles' tackles are bigger names than the Giants, so overall, the Eagles' whole line is just as well-known as the Giants.

[peytonsplA]

If you are talking about depth, and not just starters, then I think the Giants take this one easily. There are plenty of teams that would be happy to have Canty, Kiwanuka, Alford, and Bernard as their starting line.

[peytonsplA]

LE: Victor Abiamiri, Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons
DT: Mike Patterson, Trevor Laws
DT: Brodrick Bunkley, Dan Klecko
RE: Trent Cole, Darren Howard


Dan Klecko? Does he even play DT anymore? He's officially listed as a FB now and that's pretty much what he was with the Colts despite being listed as a DT with them.

[Sascha]

I haven't decided yet if the Giants have the best line in football, but I will say that they're better and deeper than the Eagles, who do have a very good line.


I think in the end, with the Williams' and Jared Allen, the Vikings still feature the best line, certainly the best starters.

[peytonsplA]

I think in the end, with the Williams' and Jared Allen, the Vikings still feature the best line, certainly the best starters.

Well as the Patriots made everyone realize in 2007, depth is a crucial part of a defensive line's quality. You need to be able to rotate guys if you want to sustain a pass rush for four full quarters against an offense like that. It was the ability to rotate guys that allowed the Giants to finally be the first team to finish the Patriots off that year.

The Colts pass rush did a great job against the Patriots earlier that season, but they had no depth and so the 10 point fourth quarter lead did not hold.

The Vikings line certainly made Peyton Manning's life miserable in week 2 last season, with three and then four Colts starters missing from their offensive line, but what happened in the fourth quarter of that game?

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

Dan Klecko? Does he even play DT anymore? He's officially listed as a FB now and that's pretty much what he was with the Colts despite being listed as a DT with them.

Klecko fell into a FB role due to the birds' complete inability to find a decent fullback for the past 5 or 6 years. He played alot of DT last season in our rotation (which you talked about later but remember it was the birds' DL rotation last season that first slowed down that Patriot offense not the Giants' which is a carbon copy of Philly's) but all of the talk about the guy was him playing FB. He did play DT with both the Colts and Pats before coming to Philly. He's not a stud, but he played well in our scheme and was by no means a liability.

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

Is it possible that Osi doesn't get as many TFLs as Cole because the Giants DLine is stronger and there is more competition to get into the backfield so to speak?

That would be the case were it not for 2 factors. #1 their DLine isn't stronger, especially not in the middle where Patterson and Bunkley are better DT's than anybody currently on the Giants roster. And #2 Osi has never been a tackling machine anyway. Part of Coles instinctiveness in the run game comes from the fact that he played LB in college and converted to DE in the pros which gives only further reason to be impressed by the guy who now commands double teams on almost every play of a game.

[peytonsplA]

Klecko fell into a FB role due to the birds' complete inability to find a decent fullback for the past 5 or 6 years. He played alot of DT last season in our rotation (which you talked about later but remember it was the birds' DL rotation last season that first slowed down that Patriot offense not the Giants' which is a carbon copy of Philly's) but all of the talk about the guy was him playing FB. He did play DT with both the Colts and Pats before coming to Philly. He's not a stud, but he played well in our scheme and was by no means a liability.

He barely saw the field as a DT with the Colts. That says a lot. The guy has more career receptions than sacks. He didn't fall into the FB role with the Eagles, that's what they brought him over there to do. Citing him in an argument against the Giants, who have Bernard and Alford as backup DTs, is just bizarre.

[JoeSav9256]

Klecko fell into a FB role due to the birds' complete inability to find a decent fullback for the past 5 or 6 years. He played alot of DT last season in our rotation (which you talked about later but remember it was the birds' DL rotation last season that first slowed down that Patriot offense not the Giants' which is a carbon copy of Philly's) but all of the talk about the guy was him playing FB. He did play DT with both the Colts and Pats before coming to Philly. He's not a stud, but he played well in our scheme and was by no means a liability.

Yes but the Giants got it done Phil. They had better personnel in 2007. Its not a mystery that you have to get pressure on Tom Brady.

I think its a very close argument on what D-line is the best. You have to credit Minnesota for having 3 insanely scary lineman. Thier run defense is amazing. Trent Cole, Mike Patterson, and Broderick Bunkley are also very scary. The Eagles have some unproven, but promising talent coming up so we can only wait and see. The Giants have great defensive lineman as well.