Last season, the New York Giants drafted Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon University. Although Thibodeaux may not have been as dominant as the Giants would have wished, he found ways to show flashes of greatness. Late in the season, he proved he could be effective and help the Giants impact the game with their front four. Thibodeaux recorded 48 tackles, 16 assist tackles, and four sacks in 14 games last season. Nonetheless, the confidence he’s displaying throughout training camp seems to be contagious.
“Last year, I didn’t reach the goals I wanted to reach, however we did well as a team and I gave myself a platform to continue to grow,” Thibodeaux elaborates. “In the offseason, I put that work in and now we’re here continuously sharpening iron.”
New York Giants Defensive Backs Instill More Confidence
As the Giants began rebuilding, they focused a lot on their secondary and developing their players rather than spending tons of money to bring in talent. Nonetheless, in previous years, this method backfired and it’s safe to say the Giants have resorted to productive drafting ever since. The defensive backs have been a strong point of this defense in most recent years and continue to only be gaining more depth. For example, during practice on Sunday morning, cornerback Jason Pinnock makes an acrobatic catch for an interception that naturally got the team and crowd hyped.
The energy both levels of the defense are playing with appears to be carrying over throughout the entire team making for an extremely healthy and competitive environment. Thibodeaux speaks to his trust in the defensive backs and how important their communication is moving forward for their success.
“Communication is key because a loud defense is a good defense,” Thibodeaux states. “When you see how jelled they are and how together they are, it’s easy to communicate and hold each other accountable. Ultimately, that translates from the back end to the guys up front and we continue to keep that comradery among us.”
“We just really are together when we’re on the field and we understand we move as one,” he continues.
@Giants @kayvont
— John “Woods” Armwood III (@J_Armwood908) July 31, 2023
“communication is everything!” pic.twitter.com/QubvVfTyYD