2.) Lorenzo Carter
Ahh, the Lorenzo Carter situation. After two inadequate seasons in the NFL, Carter has found himself looking to break out in year three. His rookie season was promising, as he tallied 4.0 sacks and 43 combined tackles. However, after doubling his defensive snaps last year, he only had 0.5 sacks and two additional tackles to show for it. His statistics don’t tell the full story, as a scheme led by James Bettcher did not utilize him in the most advantageous ways.
Traditionally, he was a defensive end at Georgia and made the transition to outside linebacker with Big Blue, where he was asked to drop back into coverage occasionally. While he did a solid job, limiting opponents to a 60% catch-rate, his best attribute is rushing the passer using his unique length and speed.
Carter gave us a glimpse of his potential during intrasquad scrimmages this training camp period. He racked up at least four sacks against Daniel Jones, absolutely torturing new offensive tackle Andrew Thomas. While these scrimmages don’t represent much in terms of actual production on the football field, it was promising to see him dominate at such a high level against good talent.
The Giants’ defense will be different in 2020, focusing more on keeping their eyes up and watching the play develop. Carter is ready to do his job at a high-level and not travel outside his responsibilities to try to make a play. Doing everything by the book and being perfect at your job is how the Giants will win games. Carter has fully bought into that mantra.
“This year there’s a lot of emphasis on doing your job and making sure that you don’t try to go outside your responsibilities and give up different things by trying to make a play,” Carter said. “That if we do our job and just stay locked in on the moment, locked in on the play, then it’s going to come to you. It’s either going to come to you or you’re going to force it to someone else. That’s just the big thing, staying patient. Being a lot more patient this year than just trying to go do things outside of your responsibilities.”