mentioned earlier this summer<\/a> that he believes Thibodeaux changed at some point last year.<\/p>\n\u201cKT flipped the switch last year. I don\u2019t know if y\u2019all peeped it, but he flipped the switch last year, playing a lot harder, playing a lot more physical,\u201d Burns said at the start of camp. \u201cI expect big things from KT this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t really put a finger on when it happened. I know he made a decision to make that switch. I know (outside linebackers) Coach Bullen had – I call him Charlie, only I can call him that. Charlie had a big influence on that switch with KT and I\u2019m proud of what he\u2019s been doing so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thibodeaux also credited Bullen with his improvement since the start of last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharlie Bullen has been a great asset to me and the rest of the guys in the room,\u201d Thibodeaux said, \u201cand continuing to kind of grow \u2013 not just my ability on the field, but know what weight I want to play at, know what size, know what side of the ball I like and just figuring out what works for me and kind of just honing in on it, using that as my strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessarily a certain technique, but I think it\u2019s the consistency of greatness,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s understanding that, \u2018Yeah, you know it, but let\u2019s just go over it three more times.\u2019 I think it\u2019s that 10,000-hour mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giants\u2019 defensive line coach Andre Patterson spoke earlier this year about the time it takes (most) pass rushers to learn how to consistently finish their rushes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of guys blow the rush when they get to the top of the rush,\u201d Patterson said back in June. \u201cA lot of guys are quick. A lot of guys are explosive. A lot of guys can go edge to edge. But when they get to the top of the rush, they become mechanical. And as a coach, it takes guys two, three, four years to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patterson was asked about Abdul Carter and his knack for rushing the passer despite just one year as an edge defender. However, he might have been thinking about former Vikings edge Danielle Hunter when he talked about how long it can take some defenders to play freely at the top of their rushes.<\/p>\n
Hunter was drafted out of LSU as a raw but physically talented edge. He had all the tools to be a start but wasn\u2019t a sack artist coming out of college. And the first three years of Thibodeaux\u2019s career mirror Hunter\u2019s surprisingly closely. Hunter had 6.0, 12.5, and 7.0 sacks and 39 QB hits his first three years with Coach Patterson. Thibodeaux, meanwhile, had 4.0, 11.5, and 5.0 sacks and 46 QB hits since being drafted as as a young and talented, but not terribly prolific, EDGE.<\/p>\n
Once Hunter hit his fourth year, it was off to the races. He averaged just under one sack a game (0.82 sacks per game) from 2018 to 2024. Could Thibodeaux be in for a similar leap?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when you speak of flipping a switch, you know, good players only become great, quote-on-quote, when they have good coaching,\u201d Thibodeaux said. \u201c(There\u2019s) not a lot of times you see players succeed without good coaches around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thibodeaux also has some great players around him. He was quick to credit Burns for his play in practice as well as games, and how that encourages him to raise his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael Strahan told me when I got drafted, \u2018It\u2019s not about being one of the 11 guys out on the field. It\u2019s about being the one out of the 11.\u2019 So for him [Burns], I know he wants to be the best on the field,\u201d Thibodeaux said. \u201cI want to be the best on the field. Abdul, all the way to Jev\u00f3n [Holland], all the way to the corners with Tae Banks and [Paulson] Adebo. It\u2019s definitely a competitiveness, but I also think everybody is fighting their own battle and for him, the sky is the limit and for me, I love just kind of feeding off whether it\u2019s his talent, his energy, and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big question is whether Thibodeaux\u2019s improvement will find its way to the stat sheet. There\u2019s going to be a lot of competition for sacks in the Giants\u2019 defense, and Thibodeaux may wind up generating more assists than sacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of those things where we\u2019ll have to see how the cards play out on which way they slide [protection], which way they chip, or things like that,\u201d Thibodeaux said. \u201cBut I definitely think it\u2019s going to be a great opportunity for all of us. It\u2019s going to be a race to the quarterback. I was laughing with Dex about it, like he\u2019s already the fastest guy because he\u2019s the closest, but now you got an even faster guy with Abdul in there, and you still got Burns on the other side so we\u2019re definitely going to be nail-biting to see who gets that sack.\u201d<\/p>\n
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