Abdul Carter’s Giants breakout suddenly feels a whole lot more real

The New York Giants’ 28-20 season-opening win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night gave Big Blue fans plenty to be excited about in the John Harbaugh era.

When you think of the biggest winners, Jaxson Dart and Isaiah Likely probably come to mind first. Still, several others haven’t gotten enough love, even though they played a crucial part in helping the G-Men earn the win and keep momentum alive.

One of those players was second-year edge rusher Abdul Carter, who may not have stood out on the stat sheet, but appeared to pick up right where he left off late last season and should be a valuable part of the Giants’ pass rush going forward.

Abdul Carter has a real chance to breakout with the Giants this season

Pro Football Focus recently released its Week 1 grades for every player who played this past week, and Carter finished as the third-highest-graded edge rusher, earning a 90.3 PFF grade, behind T.J. Watt and Maxx Crosby.

Carter was impressive and looked like a seasoned veteran who had played games like this for years. The 22-year-old totaled three combined tackles (all assisted), one quarterback hit, and five total pressures, making Dak Prescott uncomfortable in the pocket and helping drive a key divisional win that the Giants needed to open the season strong.

Coaching clearly makes a huge difference in this league because the 2025 third overall pick got off to a slow start during his rookie campaign, which worried several Big Blue fans. Still, he played better after Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen were fired, recording his first NFL sack in Week 13 against the Patriots and adding two more in the next two games against the Commanders and Vikings. This stretch changed the outlook around him and raised expectations for what he can become.

Now it’s clear that Carter has bought into Harbaugh and Dennard Wilson’s physical, hard-nosed style of play, which they brought to New York this season. They often refer to this new identity as being the bullies, which they went away from in the last few seasons. If you think about it, every championship team had a similar identity, from the Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks days to the Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Justin Tuck days.

Now Carter will have a similar opportunity alongside Brian Burns, Arvell Reese, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Tremaine Edmunds, and company, with a chance to help define how far this defense can go. Still, it won’t be easy, as the Giants will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams this weekend, where they will have to make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable immediately.

Although the Giants will have some hurdles to go through as long as Carter is on the field, there’s no reason to believe they can’t get past them, as we could be looking at his true breakout season this year, which we’ve all been patiently waiting for.

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