The New York Giants drafted edge rusher Abdul Carter from the Penn State Nittany Lions third overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. With the addition of Carter on defense, there is a chance that the Giants defense could become a top five to top 10 defense in the NFL.
He was a game wrecker with Penn State and a lot of people saw what kind of damage he did against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the college football playoffs with basically one shoulder. Carter has a chance to be an absolute game wrecker for the Giants for years to come. New York has a pretty stacked front seven.
New York Giants Insider Discusses What He Saw From Abdul Carter During Mandatory Minicamp
Dan Duggan of The Athletic covers the Giants and he talked about what Carter did during mandatory minicamp. He believes that Carter has a chance to become an elite star for this franchise for years to come. Duggan said,
“Certain players just move differently on a football field. It’s obvious from the first time you see them.
The New York Giants have had a few such players over the past decade. Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley and Malik Nabers top the list. Rookie Abdul Carter appears next in that line of instant stars.
Of course, the disclaimer that Carter has yet to put on pads for a full practice as a Giant is necessary. But this spring, Carter looked exactly like the type of game-wrecking force that was expected when the Giants took him with the No. 3 pick in the NFL Draft.
Sure, if the Giants are going to eventually become serious contenders, they’ll need to be led by quarterback Jaxson Dart, who was selected 22 picks after Carter in the first round. But the most direct path to surprising success this season for a team projected to win 5.5 games will be for Carter to propel an already strong pass rush into an unstoppable force.”
The Giants were eighth in the NFL in sacks last season with 45. New York has a chance to become an unstoppable force if Carter makes an immediate impact. On the current Giants depth chart, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Dexter Lawrence, and Roy Robertson-Harris is projected to be the starting defensive line.
Rookie Darius Alexander will be in the mix as well. Carter and Brian Burns are projected to be the starting outside linebackers for the Giants and Kayvon Thibodeaux on the depth chart by espn.com is projected to be behind them. Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden are projected to be the starting inside linebackers for New York.
It will be interesting to see what the depth chart is going to look like when training camp starts next month for the Giants. No matter what the depth chart looks like, Carter is going to be a starter on this New York defense as a rookie. He has a chance to be that star during the first week of the 2025 NFL regular season and Carter has already been making noise during mandatory minicamp. He will also continue to make more noise in training camp.
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