Kayvon Thibodeaux's play has put him in elite company. It's his time to lead, lift Giants

LAS VEGAS - Kayvon Thibodeaux stuck about a dozen Post-It notes inside his locker as a rookie last season. There were statistical goals and reminders of qualities within his game to work on as the New York Giants prepared for that week's game.

All were representative of Thibodeaux's mission statement: "Keep evolving. Keep growing."

Now that the evolution and growth Thibodeaux promised is starting to take hold, the player he has become is plenty closer to the one the Giants believed he would eventually be.

And that development has been on display for much of this season, and even the harshest critics of the 22-year-old outside linebacker can't argue with the results.

Saquon Barkley is not wrong when he suggests the Giants should be, at worst, 4-4. Victories over the Bills and the Jets within the last three weeks were not just there for the taking; the Giants (2-6) coughed both wins up on the game's final moments, so instead of taking a three-game winning streak into Sunday's game against the Raiders, they are trying to find a way to stabilize what has been a two-month slog of mostly uninspiring football for a team that expected to be in playoff contention at the midway point of Brian Daboll's second season.

Right now, the Giants are fighting the perception that their 2023 campaign, in terms of postseason aspirations, is over. That brings us back to Thibodeaux, who acknowledges that personal motivation can help spur team production as the Giants continue to search for players to spark them and lift the franchise out of its latest run.

That's why Thibodeaux is not shy about admitting he has looked at the list of NFL sack leaders. There's a sense of pride to see his name there, but not without taking note of the elite company he is suddenly keeping.

Danielle Hunter leads the league with 10. T.J. Watt of the Steelers and Josh Allen of the Jaguars are at 9.5.

Then it's Myles Garrett of the Browns and Thibodeaux at 8.5.

"I definitely have looked, I’ll be honest," Thibodeaux said with a laugh. "Because now you are chasing something. Sometimes when your team is not in the best position, you start to look at, like, what can I use to motivate me or what motivation can you bring to the defense or the guys around me, and it’s playing good football. As a defense, we’ve been able to do some great things and now, although things haven’t been able to go as well for the season right now, you keep your motivation by continuing to reap the benefits of how good your guys are playing. Just playing together and trying to keep it going."

It was easy to love the film on Thibodeaux from his days at Oregon, especially those plays that landed on countless highlight reels. He's explosive and nasty, and the willingness to flatten the edge and defend the run showed up even more.

His transition to the NFL was challenging, and plenty of naysayers have knocked his play. The Giants have put a lot on Thibodeaux's plate, from snap count to assignment, and he has shown a willingness to be coached.

There's also an emotional component on the field that has fueled Thibodeaux despite just being 22 years old.

"I always say, ‘We’re going to open up a can of whoop-ass,’” Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said last season when asked about Thibodeaux's perceived lack of production. “Well, he’s the can opener."

In praising Thibodeaux's commitment to improve and develop, Giants outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins told a story last summer he believed revealed a hunger to get better. He was out at a comedy club with his wife and turned his cell phone off, but there were numerous texts from Thibodeaux waiting when the show ended.

Thibodeaux was seeking coaching from Wilkins, who recalled with a laugh: "It was a Saturday night in the spring. He was studying [the playbook]."

Added Martindale: "Kayvon, like I said, there is no ceiling on him and how good he can be. It's his personality. It's his work ethic. It's how he was raised. It's all those different things that go into it, and how much he likes to receive coaching. Like I said, he's a guy that I always want to be around, and that makes it fun to come to work."

Thibodeaux acknowledged this week that there is an opportunity - make that a responsibility - for other players on defense to step up and fill a leadership void in the trade of Leonard Williams to the Seahawks for two draft picks.

Thibodeaux believes he is ready to be one of them, if not the one next to Dexter Lawrence.

"When you have great players alongside of you, it’s only right that you raise your level of play to theirs," Thibodeaux said. "Dex has been playing great and he’s going to continue to play great and I want to continue to match him so that we can be a great front and a great defense."

Thibodeaux played all but one of the Giants' 69 defensive snaps against the Bills and missed just two of their 64 snaps against the Jets. He made stamina and conditioning a focus of his offseason, spending the summer running post-practice sprints in the end zone after training camp sessions.

"Do you want him to play all those reps? No, but sometimes it’s the way the game works out," Martindale said. "Do you want to have a play where he's not out there? That’s a testament to how well he's playing. So, you say, ‘Hey, let’s rest him,’ and then go, ‘Get him back in there!’ You know what I mean?"

With the way Lawrence and Thibodeaux are playing, the Giants sure would love to follow their lead.

"I do want to make the Pro Bowl, that would be something that’s amazing," Thibodeaux said. "I do want to be in the running for the Defensive Player of the Year. Obviously, we are not playing the best as a team, so individual success doesn’t come without team success. So I’m not worried about it, but it's dope to be in this position and be a guy that is successful, too."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Kayvon Thibodeaux: Evolution of NY Giants star now in elite company