Giants' Abdul Carter, under NFL spotlight, still seeking center stage
New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler runs against Giants linebacker Abdul Carter in the second half of an NFL game Sunday in New Orleans. Credit: AP/Butch Dill
Abdul Carter has 13 tackles, eight quarterback hits, a tackle for a loss, and half a sack.
Back in college that would have been a really strong game for him.
Here in the NFL it’s a different story, though, and those are his numbers through the first five weeks of this season.
It’s wrong to say he has been a disappointment, although some have insinuated otherwise. As former NFL coach Jon Gruden noted on Fox One late last month of the Giants’ defense with a barb pointed at Carter in particular: “They’ve got all these guys (saying) 'I wanna wear Lawrence Taylor's jersey.' Man, you shouldn't even get Lawrence Taylor's autograph."
Carter’s 22 quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus, are double what any other rookie has so far this year. Less than two weeks ago against the Chargers — and shortly after Gruden’s remark — he leveled five quarterback hits on Justin Herbert to help the Giants notch their first win. Only one other rookie defender this season has more than two quarterback hits all year.
A quarter of the way through the schedule Carter is still very much the favorite to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s getting 8-to-5 odds on that from BetOnline.ag if you are interested in such things.
But the Giants didn’t select him with the third overall pick in April’s draft to be good or even very good. They picked him to be great. They picked him to become a game-wrecker. And so far those wow! moments the Giants thought they’d be seeing plenty of from him have been rather elusive.
“I feel like I am close,” Carter said of providing such plays. “Those plays are going to come. . . . As long as I keep affecting the quarterback, getting close to him, eventually the sacks are going to come.”
Highly-touted rookies all across the league are starting to find their footing. This past weekend we saw the first overall pick have his breakthrough moment as Cam Ward led the Titans to a win over the Cardinals on Sunday. Then we saw the second overall pick have his as Travis Hunter started on both sides of the ball and made some incredible plays for the Jaguars in their win over Kansas City on Monday night.
Is the third overall pick next? Could the Carter breakthrough occur Thursday night against the Eagles?
“We’ll see,” Carter said.
It’s hard to imagine a better possible stage for it.
It’s been a long time since the Giants have had a big-time defensive player who doesn’t shrink from the spotlight of a national game. It’s been just about as long since they had one who was able to stand up to the Eagles come to think of it. Carter has an opportunity to accomplish both on Thursday.
While all eyes will be focused on another rookie, Jaxson Dart, making his third NFL start at quarterback for the Giants, on the Eagles’ continued struggles to establish their offensive identity, and on yet another chapter in the Giants vs. Saquon Barkley drama (this time complete with a Saquon-produced documentary that just happens to drop on the same day as the game), Carter could be the one that stands out over all of it.
Or he could be pushed aside by it.
Carter insists he is not getting impatient for his first full sack in the NFL . . . even though he agreed that he would not have imagined he’d be going into this, his sixth game, still in search of it. During the preseason he vowed not to cut his hair until he notched a quarterback takedown and these days he spends most of his time with his lengthening locks tucked under a cap.
The Giants aren’t getting antsy, either.
“I think he's been productive in terms of getting pressure, getting into the backfield,” head coach Brian Daboll said while also noting the flexibility Carter has to play various spots on the field. “He's a hard guy to block . . . I don't really think he's got a limit in terms of his ability.”
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said: “The more you are around the quarterback it’s positive and he’s around the quarterback a lot. You are not always going to get the sacks that you want but the more you can affect him and allow him to feel you, that’s positive, and that’s what you want.”
Eventually, though, all those pressures and pushes and pesterings have to turn into actual production. They have to turn into the kinds of plays that swing games and change results. They have to start justifying the third overall pick the Giants were more than thrilled to use on getting Carter to begin with.
Few players came into the league this year with as much hype as Carter did. Everyone around him — and Carter himself — thinks he is getting close to living up to it.
That quest is just like sacking quarterbacks. Being close is good, but the great ones actually get there.
Does Carter have greatness in him?
As he said: We’ll see.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
