Heading into the 2025 season, the Giants are coming off another incredibly disappointing campaign, which saw them go 3-14 and take another step in the wrong direction, putting GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll firmly on the hot seat. But as the team heads into 2025, there's optimism that the Giants will be an improved squad.

In this series, we’ll break down the depth chart for every position group. This time, we’ll go in-depth at the linebacker position...

(NOTE: This article highlights the Giants' off-the-ball linebackers. Outside linebackers were included in the edge rushers breakdown)

Projected depth chart

Starters: Bobby Okereke, Micah McFadden
Backups: Darius Muasau, Dyontae Johnson, Chris Board, Ty Summers, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles
Key additions/losses: Isaiah Simmons signed with Packers in free agency
Top Performers in 2024: McFadden, with 107 combined tackles, 3.0 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, eight tackles for loss
2024 ranking via PFF: Okereke ranked 29th out of 189 linebackers

What Giants linebackers have going for them

While the Giants have some questions to answer with their secondary and their defensive line, their starting linebacker duo may be one of the better tandems in the NFL.

Okereke has been exactly what the Giants were hoping he'd be when they signed him to a four-year, $40 million contract prior to the 2023 season: a veteran leader who provides a steady presence in the middle of the defense.

But the rising star here is McFadden, who has quietly become one of the Giants' best players since he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. McFadden has eclipsed the 100-tackle mark in each of his two seasons as a full-time starter, and he's also proven himself as a playmaker behind the line of scrimmage, totaling 6.0 sacks and 26 tackles for loss as a pro.

McFadden and Okereke, if healthy, should continue to be one of the better linebacker duos in the NFL.

Key concern for 2025: Keeping Okereke on the field

After playing all 17 games in his first year as a Giant in 2023, Okereke missed the final five games of the 2024 season due to a herniated disk in his back.

The good news for Giants fans is that 2024 may have been an anomaly for Okereke, as he'd never played less than 14 games in a prior season.

McFadden is more than capable of wearing the green dot and communicating the defensive play calls, but the Giants are better when they have Okereke on the field.

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