Giants’ Abdul Carter being in Micah Parsons territory is a silver lining in awful season

This season has been a special form of misery for the New York Giants. The season started off sour, then they had some hope in the middle of the season. However, after a couple of unfortunate injuries, New York is now fighting not for a playoff spot, but for a high draft pick. It’s been rough being a Giants fan.

There are at least a few bright spots for the Giants to look forward to next season. Jaxson Dart has looked incredible when he’s healthy. Before his injury, Malik Nabers was still an elite threat. And on the defensive end, rookie Abdul Carter has looked pretty good as a pass rusher. Against the Las Vegas Raiders this week, Carter recorded nine pressures. This puts him in some rarefied air along with other elite modern pass-rushers.

“Carter has 52 pressures this season, second-most since ESPN began tracking pressures in 2017,” Jordan Raanan posted.

Nick Bosa has the most pressures in a single season, recording 60 pressures back in 2019. Just below Carter’s rookie season is Micah Parsons, who recorded 51 pressures in his rookie season in 2021. Jared Verse had 50 pressures last season. Interestingly, all three players won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in those seasons, which bodes well for the Giants’ rookie.

Unfortunately for Carter, his counting stats aren’t as gaudy as the rest of his peers. While Bosa and Parsons had nine and 13 sacks in their rookie seasons, respectively, the Giants’ rookie has only four through 16 games this year. That is around the same number as Verse’s rookie season (4.5 sacks), but Carter has some stiff competition in Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger, the odds-on favorite to win DROY.

Still, Giants fans can be happy with how their first-round pick has panned out this season. Here’s to hoping things are better next season.

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