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Editor's note: This is Part 9 of 26 in Art Stapleton's New York Giants summer series Q&A
The New York Giants have a Super Bowl winner and possible Hall of Famer at head coach in John Harbaugh, with whom the entire team can strive for a championship standard the franchise has failed to meet for far too long now.
The standing ovation for Harbaugh from the assembled Giants fans inside Beacon Theatre back in May for the team's Town Hall event was only just the beginning.
And Harbaugh, their head coach set to usher in yet another new era for the franchise in its 102nd year, certainly knew how to play to his audience moments later.
With chants of "Cowboys suck" ringing out around him, Harbaugh was asked by a fan if he could promise the Giants were done being kicked around by their NFC rivals and most hated foes: the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.
That's when Harbaugh with 193 career victories rallied a fan base with a pledge that felt an awful lot like a battle cry he will repeatedly deliver between now and the start of the season.
"I could [not] care less about what's happened last year or the year before that or 10 years before that," Harbaugh said. "All I care about is tomorrow's practice, because if tomorrow's practice is the way it's supposed to be, that will be one more step in the direction of being a good enough football team to kick the Cowboys' ass."
26 QUESTIONS: See our growing list of Giants questions for 2026 season
For now, there are far more questions than answers. But we hope to set the table for the summer and beyond with 26 questions that will define the 2026 Giants season.
Abdul Carter thrives by 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.
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.
Now he 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.
Carter, 22, plays with aggression and he's really good with his hands. This was his first year playing defensive end and attacking quarterbacks from the edge, so there's no telling how good he can be with more experience at the position. 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, it was very difficult to look away.
Given his anticipated bend, explosiveness and versatility, Carter stalked the offensive line in team drills if he were a lion seeking its prey. Over a span of four plays in one early-camp session last summer, he lined up over the left tackle, the right tackle, the center and a tight end who had zero chance of blocking him.
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 Sper 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 Tremaine Edmunds and rookie Arvell Reese in the middle 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.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: What will Abdul Carter’s second season with NY Giants look like?
Continue reading...
The New York Giants have a Super Bowl winner and possible Hall of Famer at head coach in John Harbaugh, with whom the entire team can strive for a championship standard the franchise has failed to meet for far too long now.
The standing ovation for Harbaugh from the assembled Giants fans inside Beacon Theatre back in May for the team's Town Hall event was only just the beginning.
And Harbaugh, their head coach set to usher in yet another new era for the franchise in its 102nd year, certainly knew how to play to his audience moments later.
With chants of "Cowboys suck" ringing out around him, Harbaugh was asked by a fan if he could promise the Giants were done being kicked around by their NFC rivals and most hated foes: the Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.
That's when Harbaugh with 193 career victories rallied a fan base with a pledge that felt an awful lot like a battle cry he will repeatedly deliver between now and the start of the season.
"I could [not] care less about what's happened last year or the year before that or 10 years before that," Harbaugh said. "All I care about is tomorrow's practice, because if tomorrow's practice is the way it's supposed to be, that will be one more step in the direction of being a good enough football team to kick the Cowboys' ass."
26 QUESTIONS: See our growing list of Giants questions for 2026 season
For now, there are far more questions than answers. But we hope to set the table for the summer and beyond with 26 questions that will define the 2026 Giants season.
Question #9: What will Abdul Carter's second NFL season look like?
Abdul Carter thrives by 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.
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.
Now he 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.
Carter, 22, plays with aggression and he's really good with his hands. This was his first year playing defensive end and attacking quarterbacks from the edge, so there's no telling how good he can be with more experience at the position. 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, it was very difficult to look away.
Given his anticipated bend, explosiveness and versatility, Carter stalked the offensive line in team drills if he were a lion seeking its prey. Over a span of four plays in one early-camp session last summer, he lined up over the left tackle, the right tackle, the center and a tight end who had zero chance of blocking him.
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 Sper 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 Tremaine Edmunds and rookie Arvell Reese in the middle 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.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: What will Abdul Carter’s second season with NY Giants look like?
Continue reading...
