{"id":242210,"date":"2025-07-28T07:59:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/242210\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T07:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:59:14","slug":"abdul-carters-growing-defensive-versatility-only-building-more-hype-around-giants-rookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/242210\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdul Carter\u2019s growing defensive versatility only building more hype around Giants rookie"},"content":{"rendered":"

It would be helpful to the crowd if the Giants just let Abdul Carter wear a red and white striped shirt among the sea of blue and white jerseys on the practice field.<\/p>\n

The quarterbacks definitely wouldn\u2019t complain.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhere\u2019s Waldo?\u201d has been replaced by \u201cWhere\u2019s Abdul?\u201d in the rookie\u2019s first training camp.<\/p>\n

Carter\u2019s versatility to slide from edge rusher to off-ball linebacker to three-technique defensive tackle depending on the formation has added a new wrinkle to the defense that is sure to further the league-wide comparisons being drawn to fellow Penn State product Micah Parsons.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil they get here, and you kind of see them move around and ultimately see how they handle it mentally, [you don\u2019t know], \u2018Can they pick it up? Do they have the instincts to do it?\u2019 \u201d head coach Brian Daboll said. \u201cHe certainly has very, very good instincts as a football player.<\/p>\n

\"Giants<\/p>\n

Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) looks on during Training Camp at the Quest Diagnostics center, Sunday, July 27, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cSome players do exactly what\u2019s on the paper: \u2018I run 12 yards, I stop, I turn.\u2019 And then you have other players that are very instinctive players. \u2018If I run to 12 yards and turn here, I\u2019m going to be covered. Or if I do this, it\u2019s not.\u2019 He\u2019s a little bit of a \u2018see ball, get ball\u2019 kind of guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Parsons has settled in for the Cowboys as an edge rusher in the vein of other top sack threats like T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Trey Hendrickson. But he burst onto the scene in 2021 as a rookie who played more snaps in the box (540) than on the defensive line (390) en route to 13 sacks.<\/p>\n

The Giants would sign up right now for duplication from Carter, whose explosiveness, intensity and slippery spin move was impossible to miss in Sunday\u2019s practice. The No. 3 pick in the draft is only building more hype.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) runs against offensive tackle Jermaine Eluemunor (72) during Training Camp at the Quest Diagnostics center, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like pass rush is a science,\u201d Carter said. \u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re playing basketball: Dribbling the ball, setting your moves up, setting up your counter. I have my own little style that I play like. Whatever I\u2019m going to do, I\u2019m going to make sure I do my job first, but just within the play.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Giants need defensive coordinator Shane Bowen to be a mad scientist, figuring out ways to maximize Carter, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux.<\/p>\n

Carter replaced a resting Brian Burns on Sunday<\/a> and has bumped Thibodeaux to the second team at times in camp, but the best-11 approach to defense means putting all three on the field together.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Carter \u2014 who played inside linebacker at Penn State and was \u201crunning through gaps and chasing people down,\u201d as Daboll said, until a position change last season \u2014 is the right fit in addition to being a potential game-changer. He had 24 tackles for loss and 12 sacks last season.<\/p>\n

\"Giants<\/p>\n

Giants head coach Brian Daboll greets New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) during Training Camp at the Quest Diagnostics center. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\"Giants<\/p>\n

Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (right), working against New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter #51, during practice. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a sign of respect,\u201d Carter said of having extra responsibility put on his plate. \u201cAnything my coaches need me to do, I\u2019m going to do it to the best of my ability. I\u2019ve been doing this since my freshman year of college, so I\u2019m pretty much used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The offensive and defensive lines will battle in full pads Monday for the first time. It\u2019s a chance for right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor to keep Carter from bending the edge with speed and center John Michael Schmitz to even the score for being put in a spin cycle and shoved to the turf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get to be more physical \u2014 like play some real football now \u2014 so I can\u2019t wait,\u201d Carter said. \u201cI feel like I perform best under pressure. I don\u2019t shy away from it. \u2026 I embrace it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If that weren\u2019t the case, Carter wouldn\u2019t have worn No. 11 at Penn State after greats Parsons and LaVar Arrington. He wouldn\u2019t have checked in with Lawrence Taylor (No. 56) and Phil Simms (No. 11) about potentially unretiring their numbers with the Giants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a lot from Micah,\u201d Carter said. \u201cHe took me under his wing, just starting at Penn State, that whole \u2018Stick City\u2019 (No. 11) tradition. But at the end of the day, I\u2019m my own player. I\u2019m going to be Abdul Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Who is Carter?<\/p>\n

\u201cVery explosive,\u201d defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. \u201cThat\u2019s what jumps off on film. He is making great strides \u2014 leaps and bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Thibodeaux, \u201cHe\u2019s twitchy. He can play it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s Carter?<\/p>\n

Just look around the ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It would be helpful to the crowd if the Giants just let Abdul Carter wear a red and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[291,1483,200,2793,1489,7,519,1239,6646,755,491,1304,1917,56,2321,2469,6,948,48780,5226,1799,8896,1503],"class_list":{"0":"post-242210","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-abdul-carter","9":"tag-brian-burns","10":"tag-brian-daboll","11":"tag-defensive-tackle","12":"tag-dexter-lawrence","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-giants","15":"tag-jermaine-eluemunor","16":"tag-john-michael-schmitz","17":"tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","18":"tag-micah-parsons","19":"tag-myles-garrett","20":"tag-new-york","21":"tag-new-york-giants","22":"tag-newyork","23":"tag-newyorkgiants","24":"tag-nfl","25":"tag-penn-state","26":"tag-quest-diagnostics","27":"tag-t-j-watt","28":"tag-the-giants","29":"tag-training-camp","30":"tag-trey-hendrickson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114929805949267416","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}