The New York Giants' head coaching search is in full force, but that's far from the only storyline surrounding Big Blue right now. The Giants drafted another impressive rookie class and the future is bright with a change in leadership looming, but some of those young stars are flying under the radar.
We all know how fantastic Jaxson Dart's rookie season played out, but Abdul Carter was different. Once he got things together down the stretch but looked great, but that didn't stop WFAN's Craig Carton from admitting he isn't buying into the narrative that his rookie season met fans' expectations.
"This notion that some of you whackos have that you think Abdul Carter had a great season... You guys are lowering your standards. Abdul Carter had a terrible year. "
To be completely honest, Carton is right to an extent. Giants fans have spent the better part of the last decade suffering through losing seasons and coaching ineptitude, so this is a fanbase that just wants something to look forward to, but that's exactly what Dart and the offense provided in 2025.
Abdul Carter's rookie season isn't as impressive as Giants fans made it out to be
Let's put it this way: the No. 3 pick in the 2025 Draft entered the season with legitimate Defensive Rookie of the Year aspirations, and never came close to that. Sleeping through meetings and failing to take accountability despite a clear lack of maturity isn't what constitutes a good rookie season.
Yes, the Penn State product logged four sacks across the final five games of the season, but that is momentum that has to carry over into next season. Personally, though, I'm not a huge fan of investing premium draft capital in a pass-rusher only to have him held sack-less for the first 12 weeks of the season.
The 22-year-old didn't have a bad rookie season by any means, but Carton is allowed to be disappointed. For a player to be compared to Micah Parsons to barely finish inside the top five among all rookies in sacks is falling short of expectations, even if he laid the groundwork for a monster 2026.
With that said, his pressure numbers were pretty fantastic, but fans are overlooking that because it isn't as glamorous as a sack total. However, James Pearce Jr. logged 10.5 sacks in his rookie year with the Atlanta Falcons, and I was expecting Carter's 2025 numbers to be in that same ballpark.
Carter was even playing opposite Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, and the only thing he managed to confirm is that he's not a finished product. The upside is there, but as Carton said, if this team had a better record, these numbers wouldn't be nearly as impressive as they are now.