After getting taken number three overall by the Giants, Penn State’s Abdul Carter looks to be the next great pass rusher in New York. According to BetMGM, he has the highest odds at +250, which makes sense since he was the top true rookie defender taken in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Although Carter had injury concerns entering this new season, it seems he will be ready to go for training camp and made an impression at mini-camp/OTAs. The highly touted edge looks to make a strength even stronger with the Giants, as they are stacked on paper with edge rusher Brian Burns, whom they traded for last offseason.
This is to add to first-rounder Kayvon Thibodeaux, and despite having a down 2024, he will look to rebound in a boom-or-bust type season for 2025. “Sexy Dexy” Dexter Lawrence will clog up the middle as one of the best pass-rushing nose tackles in the league, forming a dynamic squad of rushing the passer on their front seven.
New York Giants History with Sack Leaders
The Giants didn’t have a double-digit sack getter in 2024. Lawrence had nine, while Burns had 8.5, and both were out a few games due to injury. Thibodeaux had 11.5 in 2023 in his second year, but just had 5.5 last season. It was a similar situation; the whole pass rushing unit just wasn’t healthy enough at the same time.
Despite a down year for the unit, it was way better than 2022, where Dexter led the team in sacks with just 7.5 as a defensive tackle. The same can be said for 2021, as Azeez Ojulari, now a Philadelphia Eagle, led the team with eight sacks. Going back even further, Leonard Williams, a defensive end/tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, had 11.5 and led the team in 2020 for the Giants.
But it gets worse.
From 2015 to 2019, the highest single sack lead for the Gmen was just 10 by Markus Golden, 9.5 from Robert Ayers, 8.5 for Jason Pierre-Paul, and 8.5 for Olivier Vernon. Those are dreadful numbers for a sack leader from a defense that has had its golden days with the Big Blue Crew, with the legends Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks.
You have to go back to JPP’s sophomore breakout season in 2011, where he had 16.5 sacks and was a dominant force on the edge in New York for a few seasons, including 2014 with 12.5 sacks.
The only notable year from 2014 and before, but after the monster JPP season, was Justin Tuck in 2013 with 11 sacks. 2012 was a down year with no one having seven sacks, but the last time the Giants had two players with double digits was 2010 with Osi Umenyiora (11.5) and Tuck (11.5). Osi led the team in 2009 with just seven sacks.
Abdul Carter: Double Digit Sacks as a Rookie?
This is according to Statmuse, as it is clear at least on paper, this is the year where the Giants can have multiple sack leaders over 10, and potentially even a third in the mix. Burns has had over double-digits just once with 12.5 in Carolina for the Panthers in 2022.
Sack numbers aren’t everything, but add in the talented 21-year-old Carter, and there isn’t a reason why they can’t shatter any record from the past decade and a half besides anything health-related. The former Nittany Lion had 12 in his junior season at Penn State, as all four pass rushers have a shot at least more than six or seven, at the very least, a piece with some fluctuation.
Their team sack total was 45 in 2024 and was ranked 7th in the NFL. (tied with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks). This should get past 50 at the very least, putting them in the same tier as teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, and close to last year’s highest sack total team, the Denver Broncos.
