Brian Burns Predicts Breakout Season for Giants' Abdul Carter

Burns, the Giants' top defender last season, says his fellow outside linebacker has matured after a rocky rookie start — and is primed to build on a dominant late-season stretch.

New York Giants outside linebacker Abdul Carter | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Outside linebacker Brian Burns was hands down the best player on the New York Giants last season, and it wasn’t even close.

So when Burns talks about a player who has the potential to be great, such as fellow outside linebacker Abdul Carter, people need to listen.

“I expect him to break out,” Burns said of Carter after the team’s first training camp practice on Wednesday.

“He's got a year under his belt; he went through whatever he went through. As you said, he ended the year strong. I expect him to break out, pick up where he left off.”

Carter, who had a rocky rookie campaign that saw him get disciplined twice within three weeks due to violations of team rules, ultimately straightened out his act and re-committed himself to his craft, having realized that any bad habits he carried over from his days at Penn State weren’t going to fly in the pros.

That recommitment to the finer details of his craft resulted in a monster five-week stretch in which Carter was arguably the best outside linebacker on the Giants.

Per PFF data, over that span, Carter led his fellow linebackers in tackles (16), tackles for loss (6), and pass pressures (28), and he tied Burns in sacks (3.5).

New York Giants outside linebacker Abdul Carter (3), linebacker Brian Burns (0) and linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Burns, who has served as a big brother to his younger teammates like Carter, attributes Carter’s year-end production spree, which put the then-rookie into the Defensive Rookie of the Year discussion, to maturity.

“That comes with being a younger player. You learn your lessons, you move on, and you mature. It’s part of the game,” Burns said.

Carter is poised for a big second season. Already he’s drawn several pre-season accolades, including being named as the team’s top non-quarterback MVP candidate and to the NFL.com’s All-Under-25 team.

While it hasn’t yet been determined if Carter will start over Kayvon Thibodeaux, as he did at the end of last year when Thibodeaux landed on injured reserve with a shoulder ailment, Carter is off to a solid startthis summer.

Burns believes that it’s important that the team’s three outside linebackers continue to focus on complementing each other and those around them on the defense.

“I would just say at the end of the day, we’re competing with each other out here, but at the same time we understand we’re on the same team and any tips that I can get or that he can give me, it’s going to help us for the greater good,” he said.

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