THE THIBODEAUX FILE
High School Defensive Player of the Year, 2018
Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year, 2019
Morris Trophy, 2020
Two-time First-team All-Pac12, 2020, 2021
Unanimous All-American, 2021
By Lenn Robbins
There are expectations and then there are expectations. The latter has followed Kayvon Thibodeaux around the way a toddler follows its mother. Like the mom, you get used to it.
So it was with measured words that Thibodeaux addressed the expectations that have followed him to the NFL as the No.5 pick in the 2021 draft.
“I don't want to think too big,” he told reporters. “You have to compartmentalize the season.”
And then the former No.1 high school recruit and USA Today’s Defensive Player of the Year set the bar so high it’s staggering.
"If I could average at least one sack a game or contribute five to 10 tackles a game, then I'll be good,” he said.
Good? That’s 17 sacks, which would shatter Jevon Kearse’s rookie record of 14.5 set back in 1999.
The reality is that Thibodeaux is the Giants’ most hyped defensive draft choice since the they took Lawrence Taylor with the second pick in the 1981 draft. Taylor, of course, exceeded expectations by becoming the greatest outside linebacker ever and changing defensive schemes.
Can Thibodeaux even approach that kind of career?
"You never want to look at the end,” he said. “You always want to take it day by day. If you reach for the top, you'll miss those steps right in front of you.”