Don’t Call NY Giants OLB Abdul Carter a Rookie

The New York Giants roster entry for outside linebacker Abdul Carter will read “R” (rookie) this season, but don’t tell the No. 3 overall draft pick that he’s a rookie.

“Year 1,” Carter captioned a picture of himself in his Giants uniform from the team’s media day last month. “ I ain’t no rookie been playing this game a long time, ball is ball. I love this.”

The Giants are expecting big things from Carter this year, as the former Penn State Nittany Lion could very well be the missing piece in the pass rush that boosts the Giants' defense into the top ten league-wide this season.

Never one to lack confidence, Carter has been all business like since the Giants drafted him, and has impressed with his quick first step, which has enabled him to get into the offensive backfield to disrupt things.

The versatility of Carter, who last year at Penn State saw more snaps as an outside linebacker, is something that has undoubtedly put Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen’s imagination regarding different personnel packages and points of attack into overdrive.

“I think he's all ball,” Bowen said last month during the team’s spring program. “You can tell he perks up when you start talking football with him. I think it's just his demeanor, how he carries himself. There is an edginess to him that we've seen translate into these few practices that we've had.

“But you're always looking for guys that love football. It's a hard job, and if you don't have the love for the game, this game chews you up and spits you out. With the level of talent that he has and everything that comes with the expectations of where he was drafted, you better have a love of the game and be able to hopefully use that as fuel throughout your career, whether it's the good times or the bad times.”

Jun 17, 2025; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) participates in a drill during minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center. | John Jones-Imagn Images

Carter certainly brings that and then some. He capped his Penn State career having finished sixth in sacks (23.0), eighth in tackles for loss (39.5), and tied for 12th in forced fumbles (5), all that in 42 games with 35 starts.

Bowen’s biggest challenge, which he says is “a good problem to have,” will be trying to figure out how to get Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Chauncey Golston on the field at the same time.

As far as Carter goes, the primary focus, at least in the beginning when the Giants rookies report to training camp on Tuesday, will be on making sure that the Year 1 player is comfortable playing outside linebacker after only really doing it for one season at Penn State.

“Ultimately, we want to get our best 11 on the field, whatever way we have to maneuver to do that,” Bowen said.

“With Abdul, he did a little bit of that stuff off the ball in college early in his career, so there is some versatility there. Again, making sure in Abdul's case that we understand what it takes to be an edge player in this league and all the development that comes with that.”

While some first-year players might be overwhelmed by the thought of being asked to do a lot of things, Carter didn't sound like one of them.

“I pretty much did the same thing since I got to Penn State. They moved me around since I was a freshman,” he said.

“Played linebacker, edge, lined up inside on the guard, so I've pretty much been doing this since my freshman year,” he said during the team’s rookie minicamp.

The Giants look forward to Carter’s continued willingness to be flexible and deliver results at a high level.

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