The New York Giants' past and present are colliding as former legend Carl Banks continues to clash with two-time All-Pro Dexter Lawrence II.
Banks, a former two-time Super Bowl champion with the Giants, recently put Lawrence on blast, claiming that “nobody respects” him anymore for managing just 0.5 sacks through the first eight games. Lawrence was prompted to respond by reporters and simply called the ex-linebacker “delusional.”
“Those are strong words,” Lawrence said, via ESPN's Jordan Raanan. “If that's how you feel? F*** it… He's delusional.”
Dexter Lawrence on Carl Banks’ comments about other teams not respecting him as much anymore. #Giants pic.twitter.com/ZaW17TzBbW
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 29, 2025
Banks claimed that Lawrence is no longer an All-Pro caliber player due to his statistical regression. Lawrence, who led the league at this point in the year last season, has taken a step back on paper.
However, it is unfair to say that defenses no longer respect him. The defensive tackle's sack numbers are down due to his absurdly high double-team rate. Lawrence gets double-teamed on 74.9 percent of his pass-rushing plays, the highest rate in the league, according to Raanan.
Raanan noted that Lawrence said he thought he had been playing well. Sack numbers aside, “Sexy Dexy” has 20 tackles through eight games and snagged the first interception of his career in Week 4. He came just a few yards short of the end zone after the interception, which would have been his first career touchdown.
Dexter Lawrence II's effect on Giants' other pass-rushers
Regardless of Lawrence's lack of sacks, the Giants are still wreaking havoc as a team. New York is 14th in sacks and 11th in pressures with 19 and 63, respectively. Most of that credit goes to edge-rusher Brian Burns, who is tied with Myles Garrett with a league-high 10 sacks.
Lawrence's dominance directly gives his teammates opportunities to thrive. Burns has been an All-Pro-level pass-rusher for years, but he is certainly elevated by lining up next to Lawrence.
As teams double Lawrence on nearly every snap, they are not as capable of bringing help to the edges. As a result, Burns only gets doubled on 31.9 percent of his pass-rush snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Likewise, Kayvon Thibodeaux has a 31.6 percent double-team rate, with Abdul Carter receiving help on 26.3 percent of his pass rushes.
