Should Giants have known about Abdul Carter red flags before draft, benchings?

New York Giants rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter spent the first quarter of the team's 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday night watching from the sidelines after reportedly missing all or part "of a team responsibility" leading up to the game. 

It was the second time in three weeks that interim head coach Mike Kafka had benched Carter for tardiness. It appears some around the NFL aren't surprised that Carter hasn't been a model employee since the Giants made him the third overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

"Concerns existed" about Abdul Carter before draft

"Concerns existed during Carter’s draft evaluation," NFL insider Connor Hughes of SNY mentioned for a piece published early Tuesday morning. "On the field, he was considered one of the most physically gifted defenders in the class, posting 12 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss in his final season at Penn State. Off the field, though, scouts questioned his maturity and consistency. Several evaluators believed he would need a strong organizational structure around him to reinforce professional habits."

Carter was initially benched for the opening series of the Giants' 27-20 Week 11 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 16 after missing a walk-through before the game. Later, The Athletic's Dan Duggan reported that being late to meetings had "been a trend during Carter’s rookie season that former coach Brian Daboll let slide." 

The Giants fired Daboll one day after they fell to 2-8 on the season. Big Blue is now 2-11 after Monday night. 

“You knew you’d have to deal with some BS," an unnamed coach who scouted Carter told Hughes. A scout told Hughes that Carter sometimes "acted as if certain rules didn’t apply to him." 

Giants teammates send messages to Abdul Carter after infractions

Per Hughes and Jordan Raanan of ESPN, Carter acknowledged after Monday's defeat that adjusting to life as an NFL player has been "more challenging" than he expected when he entered the league. 

"But I'm not going to use that as an excuse," Carter added. "Like I said, I have to be better. I have to take pride in what I do, be where I have to be at. Simple as that."

Meanwhile, Giants veteran defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II suggested that he is willing to help Carter "learn from these mistakes" through the end of the season. 

"We've all been late," Lawrence said. "We've all had moments like that. But you just got to learn from them."

On paper, the Giants appeared to draft a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate when they drafted Carter. What they now have is a 22-year-old who has more benchings (two) than sacks (1.5) since Week 1. 

"I think it’s just an honest mistake," veteran Giants pass-rusher Brian Burns said about Carter. "He’s human. He makes mistakes. At the end of the day, he does have to be a pro. He does have to take accountability — which he did for what happened. I’m just trying to help him be the best he can and get him through his rookie campaign." 

It's still too early to call Carter a bust, but it's reasonable to wonder if a new coaching staff might see moving on from him as a positive change for a team in need of a culture reset. For now, Carter and his teammates will spend the bye week recovering from yet another loss.