Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said earlier this summer he was about halfway to where he could be.
And since he had 16.5 sacks last year, his teammates are willing to do some quick math.
Asked how good Pierre-Paul could be, teammate Mathias Kiwanuka had a question of his own.
“A 30-sack guy?” he asked, via Jorge Castillo of the Newark Star-Ledger. “He could be. Absolutely. He definitely has the potential to be one of the best ever.
“There’s so much that goes into it that’s out of his control so you don’t want to jinx him or anything like that, but if the kid keeps working and God’s on his side and he stays healthy, we expect to see great things out of him.”
Keeping what approaches a two-per-game pace seems like a stretch for anyone, but JPP has been stretching expectations.
There were concerns among scouts he was a workout wonder, what with his pre-draft back-flipping video. But he’s turned that talent into production, while surrounded with guys who are pretty good at it as well.
When he was finally able to take the field alongside Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck in the regular season finale last year, they sacked Tony Romo six times.
“These three D-ends are probably top 10 in the National Football League,” said former Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce said. “One might be No. 1 or 2. I think JPP is on that mission to be one of the best defensive ends in the game. It’s always been known as a linebacker city, now it’s turned into a defensive end city.”
While the physical talent is the reason most people cite when making ridiculous statisical predictions, Pierre-Paul has continued to work to improve.
“This is only my third year, man,” Pierre-Paul said. “How cool is that? And I’m only 23 years old. I’m just getting better. Who knows by the time I’m 25, 26?”
If he gets better, Michael Strahan’s record of 22.5 sacks could be in danger, even if he never gets all the way to 30.