How New York Giants First-Round Pick Abdul Carter Opens the Defense

Carter can play almost any spot in the front seven, and based on the first few weeks of OTAs, that’s exactly how defensive coordinator Shane Bowen plans on using him.

For the first two years of Carter’s time at Penn State, he was an off-ball linebacker that would occasionally rotate down to the edge.

That whole time as an off-ball linebacker, Carter was still rushing the passer and producing at an elite rate - he had 28 pressures in 2023 on just 112 pass-rush reps, registering pressure on 25% of his pass-rushes.

The 2024 season was the first time Carter lined up as a full-time edge rusher, occasionally rotating to an off-ball position, and he was the focal point of the defense.

Carter would register 66 pressures in 2024, the second most for any player in college football, and was just two pressures behind the leader even with Carter having 56 fewer rush opportunities.

While the question of “How would the Giants use Carter?” was a valid one, the answer is simple: he can do it all.

For Bowen, this wouldn’t be the first time he has an edge rusher that he lines up all over the formation as a defensive coordinator.

In 2021 and 2023 with the Tennessee Titans, Bowen had edge rusher Harold Landry take snaps as an off-ball linebacker, slot corner, and even deep safety.

This pass rush, with Carter thrown into the fold, is not about Burns, Thibodeaux, and Carter cannibalizing each other for snaps; it’s about finding ways to utilize all three of them to pressure the quarterback.

All of this is also without mentioning Dexter Lawrence as well as rookie third-round pick Darius Alexander on the interior.

The Giants have already experimented in practice with putting the three edge rushers on the field at the same time, with Burns and Thibodeaux on the edge and having Carter line up as a 4i.

This pass-rush unit has the potential to be the best overall in 2025, and the way to get there is by putting the “Triple Threat” of Burns, Thibodeaux, and Carter in the best position to succeed at the same time.

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