'Not about that nonsense': How Giants' Abdul Carter is handling business of becoming great

FLORHAM PARK - Abdul Carter is having fun playing football. Just don't expect to see him smiling much when the New York Giants' sensational rookie outside linebacker takes off his helmet.

It's not that the joy isn't in there, because it is.

But the satisfaction for Carter comes from focusing on the game and figuring out his path to greatness. Any displayed contentment is bad for business when a player like he is aims for the stars.

"He's not about that nonsense," one league source recently told NorthJersey.com and The Record about Carter's presence. "He's very serious and super focused on what he wants to do and where he wants to go."

The Giants came into training camp this summer hoping to temper any enthusiasm regarding Carter and his potential impact. No one wants to put too much hype on a 21-year-old selected third overall in the 2025 NFL Draft who spent his first days as a Giant talking to Lawrence Taylor - franchise icon and the greatest defensive player in NFL history - about the prospects of wearing his retired No. 56 jersey.

Bold? Sure. Taylor was not giving up the digits, and he dared Carter to pick another number and make it his own, insisting that he would be rooting for him. It's not completely dissimilar to what Carter did when he arrived at Penn State and asked to wear No. 11 - the last Nittany Lion to wear it before him was Micah Parsons - and the request was born from a desire to chase that legacy, which he did in style and substance.

You start watching Carter in the No. 51 jersey he is quickly making his own at the start of every practice in New York Giants camp and quite frankly it's nearly impossible to look away.

Given his anticipated bend, explosiveness and versatility, Carter stalks the offensive line in team drills as if he were a lion seeking its prey. Over a span of four plays in one early-camp session, he lined up over the left tackle, the right tackle, the center and a tight end who had zero chance of blocking him.

Beginning Tuesday morning here with the first of two joint practices with the Jets, a home and home, Carter has a very real opportunity to steal the show and emerge as the player everyone is talking about.

"As far as raw athleticism, traits, he got it," teammate Brian Burns said. "I really don’t got to talk too much on him. Y'all have seen it."

While most of the attention in Saturday's preseason opener was on Jaxson Dart, and rightfully so, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Carter made an impression in his relatively brief appearance against the Bills.

He was only on the field for six plays. Three were in pass rush situations and he registered a quarterback pressure on each of them, twice beating Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins and another in which Carter left guard Cyrus O'Torrence in his wake as if he were standing still.

And here’s the thing about Carter: each of those three rushes featured something different from his toolbox.

“Just the ability to counter, I feel like it’s just effortless," Giants rookie tackle Marcus Mbow said. "Being able to go from one move to the next, just continuously working, I think that’s probably the most impressive thing about it.”

For some perspective about Carter from Saturday: how good is Dawkins, who was voted the 42nd best player in the NFL by his peers? He has allowed just 56 pressures in 1,187 pass rush snaps over the past two seasons.

"Wish I was out there more," Carter said. "But it's coming."

Carter has the ability to wow those watching even when the play goes away from him, or the times when he has had to pull up and not touch the quarterback in practice. It's the way Carter moves with a purpose − again, that stalking lion − giving off an air of invincibility. When a reporter suggested to Giants coach Brian Daboll early in camp that Carter was going to play a big role on this defense, Daboll quipped: "Ya think?"

Giants veteran right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor played with All-Pro Maxx Crosby as teammates with the Raiders, going against him regularly in practice, just as he has Carter since camp began.

"He has traits that you can’t teach," Eluemunor said of Carter. "Certain things that – everyone has talent because you're in the NFL, everyone has hard work and determination - but there's a little thing that God just blessed you with that he has that I can count on one hand that guys in the NFL have. That's not to put any unrealistic expectations on his shoulders, but the sky is the limit for that kid - even higher than the sky."

Carter thrives by making football a thinking man's game. He's an avid chess player, which feeds his competitive edge. He has learned to attack opponents cerebrally through strategy and a plan.

"I feel like pass rush is a science," Carter said. "It's like you're playing basketball, dribbling the ball, just setting your moves up, setting up your counter. I just try to think about it like that. It's really just a science for me."

Carter has an array of pass rush moves, which is a bit unusual for a player who has spent only a year and a half truly immersed in the position. In some ways, he is still learning - a scary proposition for those tasked in trying to block the avid Darth Vader fan. He has been impressive ... most impressive.

"A lot of guys are quick. A lot of guys are explosive. A lot of guys can go edge to edge," Giants defensive line coach Andre Patterson said. "But when they get to the top of the rush, they become mechanical. As a coach, it takes guys two, three, four years to figure that out, right? Well, [Carter] was born with that. That's the thing he was born with, that just naturally, when he gets to the top of the rush, he has a feel of where to go, and I think that's the thing that makes him unique. Most guys don't have it."

Carter has grabbed the attention of all those at camp with a nasty spin move, but just like anything else he has done, the timing is intentional.

"The spin move was nice, great move, but what I'm more impressed with is the battle between him and [Eluemunor]," Burns said. "It wasn't just all out one move. He set that up. I like the fact that he was patient enough to set up that move and be able to execute it."

The comparisons between Carter and Parsons began the moment Carter went to the Penn State coaching staff with the suggestion that he should move from off ball linebacker to defensive end.

Parsons did not make that transition until he got to the NFL and Carter did not want to wait that long.

The rest is history, of course, and now Carter is out to create his own legacy.

"Their personalities are different," Giants outside linebacker Chauncey Golston said of the similarities between Carter and Parsons, with whom he spent the previous four years in Dallas. "But they both have that ability to create something big from nothing. Abdul really taps into that, and takes full advantage of it. He's gonna be a really special player. He's locked in, especially for a young guy who is drafted so high. He's gonna get after it, and he has the abilities to just go make plays. Obviously, he's been hyped up and he's proving that - we can't wait until Sundays and the big stage."

Until then, Carter has the joint practices with the Jets, then two home preseason games against the Jets and the Patriots before the regular season kicks off Sept. 7 in Landover, Md., against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.

"I'm putting it all on film," Carter said. "I'm going out there, I'm playing, I'm doing what I do best."

Make no mistake: Abdul Carter is having fun doing just that, even if he refuses to show it - that is, until he gets to where he wants to go.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Abdul Carter: NY Giants rookie handling business of becoming great