New York Giants draft: What the Abdul Carter pick means for the Giants

The New York Giants have selected Penn State edge defender Abdul Carter with the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

This is the pick that was expected for weeks now, and it makes absolute sense from the Giants’ perspective.

What does it mean?

Carter is one of the few “Blue Chip” prospects in this draft class, and one of the few players in the class who’re unanimously believed to be worth a Top 5 pick.

The Giants already have a fierce pass rush with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence. Adding Carter to that group of players only enhances a pass rush that was eighth in sacks and fifth in the NFL in sack rate. The addition of Carter could push the Giants’ pass rush — and defense as a whole — to a whole new level.

What does he bring

Carter only has one year of experience at edge defender, but he brings an incredibly twitchy brand of athleticism. He does a fantastic job of timing the snap, as well as exploding off the ball to attack into the backfield with his raw athleticism. He led the nation in pass rush win rate, even as a rookie pass rusher.

There are still aspects of his game he can improve on, which only makes the pick more exciting. Carter is a tremendous athlete as well as having incredible upside. He wore the same number as Micah Parsons at Penn State, and he could be a similar player at the NFL level.

Carter also brings a lot versatility to the Giants front, having played off-ball linebacker up until 2024. He plays great in space and is able to easily disguise blitzes as well as attack into the backfield from unexpected angles.

How does he fit?

That is now the challenge facing defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, but that’s firmly in the realm of “first world problems”.

Carter was an off-ball linebacker up until the 2024 season when he transitioned to edge defender. That’s how he could fit into the defense on base downs, playing ouside linebacker opposite Burns or Thibodeaux. The other obvious answer is that he could rotate with either of the veterans to keep all three fresh through the ends of games. The Giants could perhaps use a all three along with Elijah Chatman (or free agent addition Chauncey Gholston) and Dexter Lawrence for a 5-man version of the old “Four Aces” package.

The question now is whether Thibodeaux remains with the Giants. It’s been rumored that the Giants could use their 2022 fifth overall pick as a trade piece. We’ll just have to see if that’s the case, but for now Carter could take the Giants’ pass rush from good to terrifying.