Anthony Rivardo
The New York Giants have another elite edger usher developing on their roster. Throughout the team’s recent OTAs, second-year edge rusher Abdul Carter put on a clinic, demonstrating his immense potential for a year two breakout.
He flashed elite, fluid bend around the edge throughout practice to generate pressures and would-be sacks. Entering the 2026 NFL season, the former Penn State star looks primed to take a second-year leap and firmly establish his name among the NFL’s elite tier of premier pass rushers.
Abdul Carter flashed elite traits as a rookie
Drafted third overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, Carter carried immense expectations into East Rutherford, and his rookie campaign proved he belongs. While his traditional box-score numbers were modest—finishing his first year with 43 total tackles, 4.0 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles over 17 games—the underlying advanced analytics paint the picture of a generational talent on the cusp of a total breakout.
Carter racked up a massive 66 total quarterback pressures in 2025 with 18 quarterback hits and 43 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked an incredible 11th among all qualified NFL edge defenders. His stellar 84.5 PFF pass-rush grade ranked 10th in the league, earning him a well-deserved spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
The Giants’ defensive line has elite potential
Carter shares the field with fellow high-draft-pick bookends Brian Burns (who is coming off a 16.5-sack campaign) and former fifth-overall pick Kayvon Thibodeaux; Carter rarely has to navigate the burden of consistent double-teams. Rookie LB Arvell Reese is also joining the fold with elite pass-rushing upside.
As offensive lines scramble to double-team Burns and account for Reese, Carter can be consistently left in isolated, one-on-one matchups on the outside. His OTAs performance proved that when left on an island, his lightning-fast burst off the line is simply too much for standard tackles to handle.
Carter’s year two breakout is on the horizon
As the Giants prepare to shift gears into training camp, the narrative surrounding the defense is shifting from potential to production. Carter’s slow burn at the beginning of his rookie year—where he recorded just half a sack over his first 12 games before finishing with a furious multi-sack flurry in December—showed a young player learning to convert raw traits into professional technique.
Now boasting a full year of NFL experience and an “impossible to miss” showcase of pass-rushing bend, Carter isn’t just looking to build on his fifth-place Defensive Rookie of the Year finish. He is looking to tear the league apart in 2026.
More about:New York Giants
