EDGE Lorenzo Carter is looking to make a name for himself as he heads into year three and he got off to a fantastic start at the NY Giants’ scrimmage.
Many NY Giants fans were up in arms when GM Dave Gettleman didn’t select a pass-rusher with a meaningful draft pick in this year’s draft. However, I was totally fine with it, as for starters, I don’t think any edge drafted outside of the first round was even as good a prospect as 2018 third-round pick Lorenzo Carter.
So far during his two years with the NY Giants, Carter has shown that he has the potential to be a legitimate edge piece in the NFL. In 30 career games, the former Georiga Bulldog has racked up 8.5 sacks and 23 QB hits despite playing just around 50% total of the defensive snaps.
After Gettleman pulled the savvy move to retain Markus Golden for well under his market rate, Carter’s role with the team became a bit more cloudy as he’s in a fierce competition for snaps with second-year pro O’Shane Ximines and free-agent addition Kyler Fackrell.
Between the four of them, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is likely to go with a committee approach and ride the hot hand while keeping his edge rushers fresh.
However, if Friday night’s ‘blue and white’ scrimmage is any indication of how the 2020 season will play out, Lorenzo Carter just might hold down one of the edge spots all too himself.
Lorenzo Carter looks like Lawrence Taylor at NY Giants scrimmage
According to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY and other reports from the ground, Lorenzo Carter ran roughshod over the NY Giants offensive line all night long to the tune of 4.5 sacks.
Takeaways from the Giants scrimmage:
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano) August 29, 2020
Lorenzo Carter was an unstoppable force on a bad night for the offense ... That and much more, here: https://t.co/fKT6oA6fjq pic.twitter.com/dQiICJrxbp
Carter reportedly also forced a fumble out of the hands of Daniel Jones, which obviously is not great news for the offense but its nice to see Carter display a nose for the football like he did against Tom Brady and the Patriots last year.
The NY Giants are very banged up at inside linebacker at the moment, so don’t be shocked to see Carter actually take some snaps there should Blake Martinez not be ready for Week 1. Right now, Joe judge has been mum on Martinez’s status, but I’ve long thought Carter could patrol the middle of the field.
He’s got the speed – Carter ran a breathtaking 4.46 40 at the combine – to stick in coverage and him bringing interior pressure would be a thing of beauty.
For now though, it looks like he won’t have to worry about anyone else getting injured to get playing time as he has to be very much in favor with the new coaching staff.