The New York Giants have a load of talent at pass rusher as they head into the 2026 NFL season. They've used three top-five draft picks at the position over the past five years, bringing in Kayvon Thibodeaux, Abdul Carter, and Arvell Reese, and traded away a second-round pick several years ago to land Brian Burns.
Burns is the veteran Pro Bowl leader of the group, and Reese is the rookie. Thibodeaux has been the oft-injured guy who has become a bit of an afterthought, but don't sleep on him.
Carter? Well, he could be the best of the bunch. The former Penn State star who was compared to Micah Parsons coming out of college in 2025 is poised for greatness. Just ask him. That's his goal.
“I want to be the greatest of all time,” Carter told The Athletic.
Not just the greatest Giant or the greatest linebacker. The greatest, period. Muhammad Ali great.
“I mean the greatest of all time,” Carter continued, “in terms of just a football player in general.”
That is why when Carter came to the Giants, he asked for Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor's jersey number, 56. Taylor nixed the idea of having his number unretired for an unproven rookie, telling Carter to pick his own number and make it great.
Since the Giants unretired Ray Flaherty's No. 1 for Malik Nabers last year, the request wasn't that far out of bounds. Carter then shot for No. 11 - his number at Penn State - but that is retired for Phil Simms. Carter ended up wearing No. 51 as a rookie last year.
Carter played in all 17 games for the Giants in 2025, but his name was not called as often as fans had expected. He had just four sacks and 43 tackles (25 solo). The low production was mainly due to the Giants shuffling him around, a rough assignment for any rookie.
The sack total doesn't mean Carter didn't have an impact. He did. He had 23 QB hits, the most by a Giants rookie and the most by any rookie in the NFL last year. His 71 QB pressures led all rookies and ranked seventh in the NFL.
“To be honest, everybody wants the sacks, so I’m not sitting here and saying I don’t care about them,” Carter added. “But sacks are a little bit overrated. Every time you rush, you’re not going to get a sack. It’s all about affecting the quarterback and affecting the guy who touches the ball every play. As long as I can keep doing that and nobody does it faster, I’ll keep that up and the sacks are going to come along with that.”
This year, Carter is sporting No. 3, and there's no missing him. He is a force to be reckoned with. He is in a daily 'iron sharpens iron' battle with All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas at practice that has only made him better.
"Andrew, he's the best of the best," said Carter. "Whenever we're going against each other, we get the most out of each other. If I beat him, I'm going to let him hear about it, but he's the best of the best."
Head coach John Harbaugh was recently asked to assess Carter's football IQ; he was complimentary.
"I think it's really high. I think it's really high," he said. "I mean, if you watch the plays, you have to say so because the results are really good right now. He's studying the game. I don't know that he's made a mistake on a run read yet. Maybe I've missed one, but he's done really well."
And does he possess leadership qualities and ability?
"I would say so," Harbaugh said. "He's had a couple talks to the team, and he's also leading by example."
Both Carter and the Giants' other 2025 first-round pick, Jaxson Dart, are now the team's de facto leaders. If they are to climb back up in the NFL hierarchy, it will be because of them.
“I absolutely feel that way, and I told Dart the same thing,” Carter said. “In order for us to be who we want to be and add another banner in this place, we have to be the best players.”
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' Abdul Carter embracing high expectations: 'Want to be the greatest of all time'
