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Giants Now: 3 Giants land on ESPN's top 100 players

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3 Giants land on ESPN's top 100 players

With the regular season rapidly approaching, media outlets are beginning to release their predictions for the 2024 campaign.

ESPN's NFL Nation staff recently published who they believe will be the top 100 players of the upcoming season, which featured three Giants - outside linebacker Brian Burns, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and offensive tackle Andrew Thomas.

Let's start with Burns, who was the highest-ranked Giant at No. 36.

"So far, Burns has impressed," wrote ESPN's Jordan Raanan. "Cornerback Nick McCloud said he was in "awe" of the explosion Burns possesses at his size (250 pounds). The Giants even think Burns can take his game to the next level playing with Dexter Lawrence II in the middle and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the other side."

Burns registered eight sacks, 16 tackles for loss, 18 quarterback hits, one forced fumble and two passes defensed across 16 games last season. His 46 career sacks are tied for 12th in the NFL since he entered the league in 2019, while his 59 tackles for loss are tied for sixth-most in that span. He also has eight forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries to go with his 95 quarterback hits.

The 26-year-old registered a pass rush win rate of 20.4 percent over the past four seasons, Raanan noted, which ranks 14th among all players during that span.

Burns has never recorded fewer than 7.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits in a season, which he did as a rookie. He posted career-highs in sacks (12.5) and quarterback hits (22) in 2022, when he earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl nod.

He is one of only eight players in NFL history to record at least 7.5 sacks in each of their first five seasons.

View the top photos of outside linebacker Brian Burns' NFL career.

Next on the list was Dexter Lawrence, who came in at No. 54.

"Lawrence's numbers as a nose tackle are unmatched," Raanan wrote. "He racked up 24 quarterback pressures last season lined up across the center, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. No one else had more than eight. Look no further than what Aaron Rodgers said after facing him two years ago to see the respect he now commands around the league. "No. 97 is a premier player. And needs to probably get more recognition for the ability that he has," Rodgers said. He's starting to get noticed."

Lawrence was once again one of the most dominant defensive linemen in the NFL last season.

He registered 4.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, 21 quarterback hits and two passes defensed to go with his 53 total tackles (32 solo). He did this despite missing one game and playing limited snaps in the final five contests of the season.

Lawrence also recorded 65 total pressures on the season, which topped his previous career-high of 63 set in 2022.

Following the 2023 campaign, the defensive lineman was named second-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in addition to making the NFLPA's Players' All-Pro Team, both for the second consecutive season. This came after he was also named to his second straight Pro Bowl.

Lawrence is one of four players since individual sacks were tracked in 1982 to record at least 20 sacks and 250 tackles in their first five seasons with the Giants, according to ESPN stats, joining Jason Pierre-Paul, Carl Banks and Leonard Marshall.

View photos of defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence's career with the Giants.

Finally we have Andrew Thomas, who was listed at No. 76.

"Thomas might have been even higher on this list if he hadn't been limited to 10 games last season because of a hamstring injury," Raanan wrote. "When Thomas is on the field, he's proved to be an elite left tackle. His 92.4% pass block win rate over the past two seasons ranks seventh among all tackles. Just look at the impact he has on the Giants' offense. New York averaged 12.1 points per game over the first eight games when he wasn't healthy. It averaged 18.1 points per game after he returned from the injury. He might be the most important player on the Giants' entire roster."

Once he returned from his early-season hamstring injury, Thomas returned to his dominant self. The 6-foot-5 tackle allowed four sacks and 17 total pressures on 376 pass-blocking snaps, including just one sack and six pressures over the final five games of the season.

He earned Pro Football Focus' 10th-highest pass block grade among all offensive tackles in 2023.

Originally the fourth overall selection by the Giants in the 2020 NFL Draft, Thomas has played 55 games (54 starts) over his first four years in the league.

After boosting his game in 2021, Thomas took a significant step in his development during the 2022 campaign. He surrendered three sacks and 21 pressures on 619 pass-blocking snaps that season, which led to him being named second-team All-Pro. Following the 2022 campaign, Thomas was also selected to PFF's list of the top 25 players under 25, landing at No. 10.

View the best photos from the career of Giants All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas.

View photos of every move made by the Giants during the 2024 cycle.

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