Giants land Abdul Carter with No. 3 pick in 2025 NFL Draft to put together ferocious pass rush
As it turns out, this was an easy decision for the Giants.They sat back, secure in the knowledge that with the No.3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft they could stay true to their value board and take a player coveted up and down the league. The search for their future franchise quarterback will have to wait, as Thursday night the Giants did the expected with the prudent selection of edge rusher Abdul Carter.The top of the draft went as expected, with the Titans taking quarterback Cam Ward and the Jaguars taking cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter after a blockbuster trade with the Browns. With quarterback Shedeur Sanders on the board, the Giants went with Carter.Four years ago, the Giants in the first round of the 2021 draft passed on Micah Parsons, an edge rusher from Penn State, trading down instead of taking him. That turned out to be an enormous mistake, given how Parsons has flourished with the Cowboys. This new Giants regime did not make a similar mistake. Even though the position Carter plays is not a glaring need — Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux are the returning starters — Carter was impossible to pass up.
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. 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.“As a unique player like him that played off the ball for two years and has only played one season off the edge and had a really good season,’’ Giants general manager Joe Schoen said last week, when analyzing Carter as a prospect. “You’ve got Kayvon, and you’ve got Burns, you’ve got Dex inside.It gives you a lot of options.
He’s a versatile player … an ex...