Giants land Abdul Carter with No. 3 pick in 2025 NFL Draft to put together ferocious pass rush

Here is one way to evaluate a player: What would we do if we had to play against him?

That is how the Giants weighed the selection of Abdul Carter.

“You look at him from an offensive perspective and things that we might have to do if we ever had to play against him,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “And we have certain guys in our division that are similar to that.”

Yes, they do, most notably Micah Parsons, a fearsome Cowboys pᴀss rusher who has dominated the Giants, a player the Giants infamously pᴀssed over in the 2021 NFL draft.

This new regime was not going to repeat that blunder, so on Thursday general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll gleefully made Carter the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft.

“When you go through the process, this wasn’t an easy decision,” Schoen said. “Throughout the process, it became an easy decision.’’

The top of the draft went as expected, with the тιтans taking quarterback Cam Ward and the Jaguars, after a blockbuster trade with the Browns, taking cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter.

The Giants eschewed taking the quarterback and went with Carter.

The Giants then traded back into the first round to take quarterback Jaxson Dart with the No. 25 pick.

Hours before that, the Giants landed the best pᴀss rusher in this draft.

“Abdul’s one of those guys that as a true freshman just jumped off the film,” Schoen said. “Watching anybody against Penn State, he’s playing off the ball. He’s moving at a different speed than everybody else. He was one of those guys. He was on the radar from early on.’’

Even though the position Carter plays is not a glaring need — Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux are the returning starters — Carter could not be skipped over.

Lest we forget, the two most recent Super Bowls won by the Giants featured a ferocious defensive front, anchored by edge rushers Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck in 2007 and, four years later, by Tuck, Umenyiora, Jason Pierre Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka, in what was dubbed the NASCAR package.

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Now, it is up to defensive coordinator Shane Bowen to incorporate the talents of Burns, Thibodeaux, Carter and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence to recapture that past success.

“We’re gonna be dominant,” Carter said. “When we get on the field together, just wreak havoc. Just add me to that group. It’s gonna be dope. It’s gonna be the most dominant group.”

As for Thibodeaux, he already has been informed the Giants will pick up his fifth-year option, guaranteeing him $14.7 million for the 2026 season.

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Back on April 7, Daboll was on the Penn State campus, visiting with his daughter for Parents Weekend, and used that opportunity to meet Carter for breakfast.

Carter said he ate “some French toast, some eggs, steak,” and it seems as if that is when Daboll was fully sold on taking Carter at No. 3.

“He’s a great kid, and he’s an exceptional player,” Daboll said. “He’s got great quickness, bend, he’s hard to block, he played off the ball the year before, and he has some instincts in that area as well. Smart. He was a fun guy to evaluate, tough to block.”

At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, Carter in 2024 had 12 sacks and an FBS-leading 23.5 tackles for loss, and there are teams in the NFL that ranked him as the top prospect in the draft.

The Philadelphia native is young (21) and confident.

“I expect to be a dominant player,” Carter said. “Just got to put the work in, trust my coaching, trust my teammates, make sure my teammates trust me. There is no limit to what I can be.’’