Getty Images Is Kayvon Thibodeaux destined for greatness? Two Giants legends think so.
Two New York Giants legends see greatness in Kayvon Thibodeaux’s future.
Former defensive end Michael Strahan and ex-coach Bill Parcells both heaped praise upon Thibodeaux ahead of his second NFL season, according to the New York Post and NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.
Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft, had just four sacks as a rookie. But both Strahan and Parcells are Pro Football Hall of Famers who know exactly what legendary pass rushers look like.
Bill Parcells chats with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll at Giants practice
Strahan tallied 141.5 sacks in 15 seasons with the Giants, including an NFL-record 22.5 in 2001 and 18.5 in 2003. He ranks sixth on the NFL’s all-time sack list.
Meanwhile, Parcells tutored sack artists like Lawrence Taylor (132.5 sacks) and DeMarcus Ware (138.5 sacks), two players in the top 15 in all-time sacks. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants in 1986 and 1990 while spawning assistants like Bill Belichick, who is widely considered the greatest coach of all time.
Both men were impressed with Thibodeaux during recent visits to Giants headquarters during minicamp practices. Those opinions mean something as New York tries to build another championship defense with Thibodeaux as a centerpiece.
Here are Strahan and Parcells’ full thoughts on Big Blue’s best current pass rusher:
Michael Strahan: Kayvon Thibodeaux ‘Is Gonna Be a Great Player for the Giants’
Both Strahan and Thibodeaux have personalities fit for New York.
But Strahan told the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz that similarities between the two pass rushers ends there.
The 51-year-old Strahan was a second-round sleeper from Texas Southern and had one sack as a rookie in 1993. Two seasons later, he broke out with 14 sacks — the first of six double-digit sacking seasons in the next nine years.
It won’t take Thibodeaux as long to become a dominant player, Strahan told Schwartz.
“He came in as a better player than me,’’ Strahan said Monday at the Big Daddy Celebrity Golf Classic at Oheka Castle on Long Island. “He came in with a better understanding of the game of football than I did… this is a guy I know is gonna be a great player for the Giants.”
That’s not simply a hunch for Strahan, either.
According to Schwartz, the two first connected while Thibodeaux was still at Oregon. And when the Giants drafted him with the No. 5 overall pick in 2022, Strahan reached out with even more advice about how to handle New York and dreams beyond football.
Michael Strahan is a mentor of Kayvon Thibodeaux’s. On learning from the current Giants:
“Once I get to the locker room and get to meet the guys, I’m really going to soak it up from the vets.”
Thibodeaux was much more than a willing student, Strahan said.
“I think he’s actually a nice kid who looks at the past and doesn’t see it as a bunch of old guys that played an antiquated game that isn’t like it is now,’’ Strahan told Schwartz. “He looks at it and goes ‘OK it was football then, it’s football now and there’s a lot of things to learn from the past.’
“So I think he’s one of those guys that just looks at the whole landscape and says ‘Hey, where can I learn, where can I get better, not just on the field but off the field?’ I think that’s the best kind of player to have on your team. I think he has a lot of value to the franchise.’’
Kayvon Thibodeaux Aced Bill Parcells’ Pop Quiz At Giants OTAs
Bill Parcells’ old players once worked tirelessly to get a shred of credit from the coaching legend.
But Thibodeaux said he earned Parcells’ respect minutes into their meeting at team minicamp in June, correctly answering the 81-year-old’s pass rushing pop quiz.
“I had one conversation with him and we talked about football,” Thibodeaux told Good Morning Football. “I think that what he said to me was, well he asked me a question. He said, ‘What is the worst position for a defensive end to be in?’ I was kind of confused because that’s kind of an open-ended question, but I just said, ‘Past the quarterback,’ right?”
That was the answer Parcells was looking for, Thibodeaux said. His prize? A little extra attention from the man who oversaw some legendary Giants pass rushers in his day.
“He stood up, he gave me some dap because he said I had the right answer,” Thibodeaux said. “But that just goes to show that over how many years he’s been coaching and now, the new day and age, football is still the same.”