He was never going to be another Dexter Lawrence, but D.J. Reader promised to fix the biggest problem facing the New York Giants’ defense, and it took the journeyman replacement just one game to keep his promise.
Reader admitted he’s no Lawrence, but the 32-year-old declared the Giants would finally stop the run with him in the lineup. That was no small claim after the Giants allowed an NFL-worst 5.3 yards per carry in 2025 to continue a woeful trend during the Lawrence years.
The latter was arguably the most dominant interior pass-rusher in the league before he asked for and got a trade to the Cincinnati Bengals. Losing Lawrence’s All-Pro talents was supposed to rip the heart out of the Giants’ front seven, but Reader immediately made his presence felt on his debut, a 28-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
Former Bengals, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions’ nose tackle Reader “stacked the center and stopped the run at the LOS. Reader was the highest-graded run-defense player by PFF in the #Giants win,” per Nick Falato of SB Nation’s Big Blue View.
A high grade was justified after Reader wrecked several Cowboys’ running plays at source. He also helped other Giants’ defenders find room to smother the Dallas rushing attack.
They collectively ensured a notoriously soft run defense posted impressive numbers and helped the Giants forget all about Lawrence.
D.J. Reader Already Better in a Different Way than Dexter Lawrence II
For all Lawrence’s core talents crushing the pocket, he never solidified Giants’ defenses on the ground. Instead, Lawrence-led fronts consistently surrendered 4.5 to 5 yards per carry.
The Giants gave up 5.4 yards per rush during Lawrence’s banner campaign in 2022. He played 16 games when Big Blue allowed 4.7 yards a carry a year later.
Lawrence remained a fixture in the lineup the next two years, but the Giants still couldn’t stop the run. They yielded 4.6 yards per rush in 2024, before reaching last season’s nadir.
Those numbers might’ve made the Giants secretly as happy as Lawrence was to part ways. The stats also meant Reader was an ideal replacement over the ball, despite his low-key arrival in free agency.
Reader boasted a storied history clogging rushing lanes and was bullish about leading the charge against the Cowboys. He told the New York Post’s Steve Serby, “Exit 98’s always closed, man. I’m always there. Can’t get off on Exit 98, no car’s passing there.”
Big No. 98 was always there against Dallas, consistently standing Cowboys’ center Cooper Beebe up straight. Reader often pushed Beebe him back into running back Javonte Williams, the way he did on another play highlighted by Falato.
If Reader didn’t make the play himself, he made it possible for somebody else to coral Williams, in a way Lawrence rarely could.
Giants Collectively Solved Biggest Problem
The best way to sum up how the Giants instantly transformed into a stout run defense is to look at key stats. Like how “Williams carried the ball 12 times for 41 yards, good for an average of 3.4 yards per carry, and a touchdown. Overall, the Giants held the Cowboys to 18 carries for 69 yards (3.8 avg.) and the one score,” per Giants.com Managing Editor Matt Citak.
Putting those numbers into context makes what Reader and the Giants did even more impressive. Williams rushed 1,201 yards in 2025, including averaging 5.4 yards a carry against the Giants in Week 2, but he only managed a long run of eight yards against the Reader-led revamped front.
That front worked because inside linebackers, top rookie Arvell Reese and veteran Tremaine Edmunds, were allowed to run riot. Reese, the fifth-overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, “recorded 5 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 quarterback hit,” while Edmunds “led the defense with 8 total tackles (7 solo),” according to Citak.
Linemen like Reader keeping blockers off linebackers so they can make tackles in bunches is the key to a strong run defense. It’s also how this Giants’ defense needs to work.
All-Pro’s Replacement Key to Tougher Big Blue Defense
Stopping the run early lets defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson gives more opportunities to load the field with dynamic, roving edge-rushers. Turning Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux loose leads to momentum-changing turnovers. Like when safety Jevon Holland picked off Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott to set up a Giants’ touchdown before halftime.
Reader is the unheralded key to making this Giants’ defense work the same way moving forward. He’ll face a tougher test against the Los Angeles Rams and their three-tight end personnel groupings on Monday Night Football in Week 2.
This matchup would’ve spelled doom for the Lawrence-led run defense, but his replacement already has the Giants confident about standing up to the run.
Dexter Lawrence Replacement Kept Promise to Giants