NFL Draft 2025: What Abdul Carter Adds for New York Giants as No. 3 pick
Abdul Carter has found his new NFL home. The New York Giants have taken Abdul Carter with the 3rd overall draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“He’s the best player in the Draft,” an NFL Executive told NFL Insider Matt Lombardo of Between The Hashmarks. “Just go and watch the Notre Dame game … He was a one-man wrecking crew with just one arm. There are no real weak points to his game.”
This was the buzz before the draft about Carter and he will now be tasked with proving his draft pedigree on the field.
The New York Giants have been linked to Carter throughout much of the draft process so this is not much of a surprise. Just yesterday, Carter told reporters “Definitely New York right now.” When talking about which team he feels the best about. The Philadelphia native also talked to the Giants at the combine and later in early April.
Last year, the Giants ranked near the bottom of the barrel in total team defense, giving up 346.8 yards per game. That won’t cut it in the National Football League.
Surprisingly, the Giants’ total pass defense ranked as the 8th best in the league. Dexter Lawrence had a solid year for the Giants last year and pairing him up with Carter should instantly give them an above-average Defensive Line. If Carter can help sure up the run defense the Giants defense could be poised to take a big step forward.
The addition of Abdul Carter should provide an instant boost to the Giants Defensive Line. Here are three things Abdul Carter will bring to the Cleveland Browns.
Explosiveness
Abdul Carter was one of the most explosive players in all of College Football last year. He shows phenomenal get off and explosiveness when rushing the passer. Those are measurables that usually translate in the NFL.
Penn State Football fans are probably all too familiar with Carter’s explosiveness. It felt like there were at least 2-4 times nearly every game where it looked like Carter was getting held. This is because of his explosiveness.
One play from early in the season sticks out to me when I think of Carter’s explosiveness. The play came in the first quarter of the season.
West Virginia Quarterback Garrett Greene didn’t get a clean snap and Carter exploded through the line of scrimmage, essentially dribbled Garrett Greene like a basketball on turf and generated a turnover for Penn State. This play is what comes to mind when I think of Carter’s explosiveness.
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Untapped Potential
Read that again. The third overall pick has untapped potential? Well, considering it was Carter’s first year at EDGE he certainly does.
Last February, Penn State announced that Carter would move from Linebacker to Defensive End (EDGE). While this postion switch was not jaw dropping, it did come as a surprise for many Nittany Lion fans. In Carter’s first season of his career as an EDGE rusher he tallied 68 tackles, 12 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. This is a lot of output for his first season playing the EDGE position.
Some Penn State Football fans were a little disappointed in Carter’s output throughout the first couple games of the 2024 season. I recall hearing fans call for him to move back to Linebacker after the Illinois game. Granted, Carter did get off to somewhat of a slow start, the way he finished the year left no doubt that switching to EDGE was the right move.
Since Abdul Carter has only played one full season at EDGE there is so much more honing in that he can do.
Toughness
This one probably needs the least explaining, Abdul Carter is tough.
The easiest example of this is during Penn State’s playoff run. In the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State, Carter was forced to leave the game with an injury in the first half. He ended up missing the remainder of the Fiesta Bowl. However, just 10 days later, Carter suited up to play Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl.
A week of cryptic tweets, unclear messaging, and guessing if Carter would be able to give it a go in the Orange Bowl, he gave it a go. In a heartbreaking loss, Abdul Carter had a massive game.
Carter was able to rack up 5 tackles and a sack against the Fighting Irish. This is even more impressive when you consider that Carter appeared to be playing through some serious pain in his left arm and shoulder. Carter dominated with only one healthy arm.
At the end of the day, Abdul Carter brings explosiveness, potential and toughnesss to the New York Giants.
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Purdy was born and raised in central Ohio and served for four years writing for his high school's newsletter. Currently studying Biblical Studies at Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania, Ian has been a lifelong Nittany Lion fan.