How the Giants Star Rookie Linebacker is Turning New York Around

The Giants came very close to a win this week against the Washington Commanders, but once again, they fell short, suffering another loss. They lost 29-21 in their Week 15 matchup. This game allows them to stay in the top spot for the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. Despite all of that, there was one player in particular who had a great game in this matchup, and that was the Giants' Abdul Carter. He shone through and showed the Giants why they made him last year's third overall pick. Carter has been someone that the defense has been waiting for all season long. 

In the last few weeks, Carter has been finding himself getting in trouble with the Giants team more often than not. He fell asleep during team meetings and caused problems where he shouldn't have. It got so bad that Big Blue actually benched him from being a starter in the last few weeks. However, he realized his mistakes and took the initiative to fix himself before it was too late. Carter actually came to practice earlier than planned to watch tapes and see what he was doing wrong, according to the coaches. Carter also had the best practices this past week he has had all season long. 

This 2025 first-round pick actually made things happen on the field this week, and it got New York closer to a win. Carter had seven tackles in total from this game and was a part of two assists. He also had three tackles for loss and one sack against the Commanders' backup quarterback, Marcus Mariota. This linebacker stayed on top of the ball today. Whenever he was on the field with the defensive line, he caused two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery that turned into a scoring drive for New York. This has been the monster that the franchise and the fans have been waiting for all season long. 

If Carter can keep this up, the defensive line will only get better from here. This linebacker is just going to need more help than he’s already got. Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence, among others, may be able to help him in the meantime, but they have not been perfect all season long. They keep leaving gaps where they shouldn’t be. Carter just needs to keep up how he played today, and the Giants may have a decent rest of the season offensively. Next year, they may see the playoffs, provided they can find more players like him to rebuild the defensive line.