Is Darius Alexander a breakout candidate for New York Giants in 2026?

[ASFN Admin]

Who is the one player on the New York Giants most likely to have a breakout season in 2026?

In his projection of all 32 NFL teams' breakout stars for the upcoming season, ESPN’s Ben Solak named Darius Alexander as a prime candidate for the Giants.

The departure of Dexter Lawrence II creates quite the black hole in the Giants' defensive tackle rotation -- one far too big for DJ Reader to fill himself. Alexander started his college career on the offensive line, so he was always projected for more 2026 impact than 2025. Still, he had three sacks and three tackles for loss over the last six games of his rookie season.

It's important to say that Alexander is not a Lawrence replacement at all. Lawrence is a squatty nose tackle with run-stopping prowess; Alexander is long and linear and wants to play upfield. Reader and Shelby Harris will do more of the yeoman's work on early downs, but Alexander is an important player in pass-rush situations. For as deep and dangerous as the Giants' room of edge rushers is, quarterbacks will far too easily climb the pocket without an interior presence. It actually helps Alexander that he's so stylistically different from Lawrence, as he should avoid unfair one-to-one comparisons this season.

Alexander will be tasked with helping to fill Dexter Lawrence's shoes this coming season while providing New York with strong play at defensive tackle. He has been viewed as a breakout candidate for much of the offseason after recording 3.5 sacks and one pass defensed as a rookie last season.

With the losses the Giants have suffered at the position, including Roy Robertson-Harris’ torn Achilles, Alexander will be primed for a big year in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Is Darius Alexander a breakout candidate for New York Giants in 2026?

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