Why Giants Fans Should Be Buying the Early Hype Around Abdul Carter

The New York Giants are expecting big things out of their defense this year, and perhaps no one has more on the line than second-year outside linebacker Abdul Carter.

Carter, the third overall pick in last year’s draft, had an uneven rookie campaign. That inconsistency can be attributed to his reported lack of discipline that led to his being benched twice last season by then-interim head coach Mike Kafka.

Once Carter re-committed himself to his craft and understood that he couldn’t skate by as he might have done while in college, he went on to have a strong end to the season that put him into the Defensive Rookie of the Year discussion.

In his last seven games, Carter recorded 3.5 of his 4.0 sacks (with 2.5 of those sacks coming on third down), 33 of his 72 pressures, six tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and 21 tackles.

While some might be hesitant about buying into Carter’s ceiling, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the early hype surrounding his sophomore NFL season.

A More Mature Player

New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Carter’s biggest stumbling block last year was his lack of maturity. He failed to grasp that the things he may or may not have done in college weren’t going to be enough to get his game to the next level.

Fortunately, the light seems to have gone on for the former Penn State defender.

“Obviously, I learned a lot (from his rookie year), but I feel like everybody knows towards the end of the season, I started to really find my stride,” he said last week. “I'm going to try to carry that out to year two.”

So far, so good. Although last week’s opening training camp practices were conducted without pads and with no live contact allowed, Carter, who has elite speed and quickness off the edge, gave standout left tackle Andrew Thomas a run for his money.

“Everybody knows who I can be as a pass rusher,” Carter said. “I feel like for me to really take that next step and be who I want to be is me being consistent and applying everything. The run game, the pass rush, watching film, just doing everything at a consistent level.”

Natural Athletic Gifts Make Him a Disruptor

Carter brings elite-level explosiveness to the Giants' defense. Per NFL NextGen Stats, last season he recorded 44 quick quarterback pressures (pressures under 2.5 seconds), with an average time to pressure being 2.43 seconds and an average get-off of 0.83 seconds.

He finished with 72 total quarterback pressures. He was also solid enough against the run, with 43 run-defense tackles, 34 stops and four hustle plays.

The next step for Carter will be to convert more of his pressures into sacks.

“I'm still growing,” he said. “I'm going into year two, but obviously I learned a lot last year. So, I'm never going to repeat the same mistakes. I’ve got my feet wet now, so keep the ball rolling.”

Eyes on the Prize

After coming up short in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, Carter, whom some have compared to Green Bay Packers edge defender Micah Parsons, is eyeing “Defensive Player of the Year” honors.

“Just my process and knowing who I can be as a person and believing in myself,” he said when asked why he believes he can achieve that lofty goal. “I know what I'm capable of, and I know if I put the work in and believe in myself, trusting myself, trust in my teammates, trust in my coaches, I can be whoever I want to be.”

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google