Abdul Carter has been nominated for Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week following his breakout performance against the Commanders.
On Sunday, the No. 3 overall draft pick recorded seven tackles (three for loss), two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a sack.
His three tackles for loss are tied for the most by a Giants rookie since they became an official statistic in 1999. Fellow outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux was the last Giants rookie to accomplish this feat on Dec. 18, 2022, also against Washington.
Carter became the first Giants rookie to record two forced fumbles in a single game since defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in 2010. Before Carter’s performance, the last rookie league-wide to record at least two forced fumbles and three tackles for loss in the same game was Titans defensive tackle Jason Jones in 2008.
The Giants had two players (Carter and fourth-year safety Dane Belton) each record a sack and two fumbles on Sunday. Since 1998, only three other teammate duos have done that, most recently by Kalimba White and Dewayne White of the Lions in 2007.
VOTE: Abdul Carter for Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week
“It was his coming out party,” said outside linebacker Brian Burns, who leads the NFC with a career-high 13 sacks. “He had a good game. … I feel like he executed his assignments. For the most part, yeah, I feel like he executed his assignments most plays. Then he came up with some big plays that we needed, so yeah. I’m proud of him right now.”
“Abdul, he put together a good week of practice, it showed up in the game,” interim head coach Mike Kafka said. “I was happy for (him). Anytime a young player can step up and kind of start turning the page and improving. But now the challenge, just like it is for everybody, is can you do that again? You have a good game, can you stack another day? Can you stack another week? Can you stack another game? And so that’ll be the challenge for him. That’ll be the challenge for a lot of the guys who played well on offense, defense and special teams.”
With Carter, the Giants’ top four draft picks in the 2025 class have now been nominated at least once for the weekly award.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart (No. 25 overall pick) was nominated after each of his first six starts, which led to him being named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. Running back Cam Skattebo (fourth round) was nominated three times before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 8. Defensive tackle Darius Alexander (third round) was up for the award in Week 12.
Fans can vote for Carter at nfl.com/rookies and on the NFL Mobile app through Thursday at 11 a.m. ET to determine who will bring home the Rookie of the Week championship belt for Week 15. The winner will be announced Thursday on NFL.com.
After the regular season, six players will be nominated for Pepsi Zero Sugar NFL Rookie of the Year honors.