WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Poor T.J. Weist.
The New York Giants‘ assistant special teams coach also responsible for blowing plays dead in practice never saw Abdul Carter coming.
But in Carter’s defense, Weist was not wearing a red non-contact jersey like his original target post-snap, quarterback Jaxson Dart. The coach was standing about 10 yards off the line of scrimmage, whistle in hand, ready to act in a moment’s notice and kill the action if unwanted traffic becomes too much around Dart.
So when Carter executed a great move against All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas, ducked inside and blew past the pocket intentionally to avoid Dart, Weist was the one blindsided as he went tumbling to the ground, and in spectacular albeit accidental fashion.
Talk about Carter wrecking everything and anything in his way.
“He’s doing everything well right now,” Giants coach John Harbaugh said.
With remarkable success on his way to the pros, Carter relied on making football a thinking man’s game.
He’s an avid chess player, so that skill sharpens his competitive edge. He has learned to attack opponents cerebrally through strategy and a plan. Don’t mistake that approach for a lack of physical gifts, however, and the Giants were blown away by the way Carter moves from the moment he arrived. That’s stood out over the first two days here.
It takes time for the mind and the body to come together at this level, and for Carter, there were well publicized and highly criticized growing pains that served as warning shots regarding his development last year.
Something appeared to click over the final five games with Carter figuring out how to finish, registering 3.5 sacks in that stretch and bringing his total to 4.0.
“There’s just a consistency level – down after down, after down, all downs, all situations – to being a complete player on the edge,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll move him around, too. That includes even dropping him into coverage sometimes. All those things. Play the run, rush the passer, all the movements, stunts, things like that. Cover for guys on movements. All those things that he’s determined to do – I’ve heard him say it many times – to be a complete player.”
Now Carter enters Year 2 with a first-year resume that remains under appreciated in some circles despite those gifts that scream breakout entering this season. Respected analysts such as ESPN’s Mina Kimes and Brandon Thorn of Trench Warfare have both praised Carter by citing advanced analytics from pressures to pass rush win rate.
As a rookie, Carter led the league in quick pressures with 48, according to Next Gen Stats. He also registered a team-high 66 total pressures, per TruMedia. Yet when you talk gifts and desire, from the player to all those around him, with his burst and bend, it’s Carter who knows himself he is capable of so much more.
“I’ve seen an amazing work ethic and a really deep determination to do every little thing right,” Harbaugh added. “Very serious-minded guy.”
No player on these Giants is more respected or revered than Thomas, and Carter more than held his own in their matchups in team drills in Thursday’s session. Make no mistake: Thomas won his share of snaps, too.
But because of who Thomas is, it’s even more noticeable when Carter is as noisy as he was for essentially the entire practice. On one play, Carter went wide and got past Thomas, then had enough juice to break back inside toward Dart in the backfield, ultimately swatting away a pass to Isaiah Likely.
The best word to describe Carter: relentless. He was so active, there were plays when he was pleading for Weist and ultimately Harbaugh as to why the play was not blown dead for a sack. Thomas joked afterward that it’s often the defensive players you hear from when they make a play – “You get a sack a game, you are All-Pro” – but nothing from anyone when the offensive lineman – in this case one of the best in the NFL – just does his job and keeps things quiet.
“He’s stringing his moves together better,” Thomas said of Carter. “He’s using his power more, and you can tell he just has a better understanding for different types of blocks, different types of attacks, recognizing play schemes.”
Carter, 22, plays with aggression and he’s really good with his hands. There’s no telling how good he can be with even more experience at the position because his combination of athletic traits, explosiveness and potential upside is off the charts.
A year ago, Carter took the field as the favorite to win the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
If you started watching Carter at the start of every practice in Giants camp last summer, it was very difficult to look away at anyone else.
He has been compared to Von Miller, Micah Parsons and Elvis Dumervil, among others, and his game is nowhere near its ceiling. In researching the great pass rushers in Giants history, minus Lawrence Taylor out of respect for the best defensive player of all-time, one interesting aspect is that the road to greatness is not necessarily an express lane.
Michael Strahan was inactive for the first five games of his career in 1993 before recording his first sack on Oct. 17 at home against the Eagles. That was the only one he had as a rookie, and he’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Osi Umenyiora picked up his first sack in the final game of his rookie season at home against Carolina in 2003. That was his only one, adding seven in Year 2 before a career-best 14.5 in his third season.
Justin Tuck had a total of 17 tackles over his first seven games, notching his first sack Dec. 4 at home against the Cowboys in 2005. That was his only one over his first two seasons before reaching double digits in Years 3 and 4.
Jason Pierre-Paul picked up his first of two sacks on Nov. 28, 2010 during his rookie season against the Jaguars. He finished with 4.5 and wound up with his career-altering total of 16.5 the following year for the Super Bowl XLVI champs.
If you want to go even further back to the last pass rusher the Giants took third overall, Carl Banks did not have a sack until he registered two in Atlanta against the Falcons on Oct. 14, 1984.
The presence of inside linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and rookie Arvell Reese – another dynamic young player in his own right – should allow Carter to play more on the edge. He was viewed as a chess piece last year, but now the Giants have options, so expect Carter to get battles more in a traditional sense – he was excellent running twists and games as a rookie with Kayvon Thibodeaux moving inside when all three pass rushers are on the field together.
What can we expect from Carter? It’s not farfetched to believe he gets to double digits in sacks, with Burns heading back up there again as well.
“I’ve seen an amazing work ethic and a really deep determination to do every little thing right,” Harbaugh said. “Very serious-minded guy. He smiled a couple times [Thursday]. That was the first time I’ve seen him smile since camp started, so that was good to see.”
It’s been nearly impossible to not notice Abdul Carter out there in Giants camp so far.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Abdul Carter leaving nothing to chance with hope of his Giant breakout
