Big Blue View
The New York Giants ended their dismal 2025 season with consecutive wins, bringing their record to 4-13. They will select fifth in the 2026 NFL Draft, and Joe Schoen will be retained as the team’s general manager. One reason for Schoen’s retention is the nucleus of young talent assembled on the roster.
Schoen built on his solid 2024 draft with another quality class in 2025. This, of course, came after a horrific 2023 effort and a bad 2022 draft class relative to the capital. Nevertheless, the Giants believe they have a bright future that the right leader can steer out of the mire of ineptitude. Here are the rookie grades from the Giants’ 2025 NFL Draft.
There’s a lot to discuss with Abdul Carter, but one thing is for sure — he possesses rare quickness to win:
Carter played 844 total snaps, 507 of which came as a pass rusher, producing 66 pressures on those reps. For context, Myles Garrett recorded 67 pressures on 599 pass-rushing snaps in his second season. Carter is a very different player from Garrett. However, the total numbers are still noteworthy—though they come with a caveat: 15 of his pressures came against the Chargers and Raiders, two of the league’s weakest offensive lines, accounting for his two highest single-game totals of the season.
Carter is challenging to handle in a phone booth. He had 43 hurries and flashed take over the game ability at points throughout the season. Still, his inexperience was on display throughout the season. Carter found himself on his back often and was out of position a lot early in the season. Strength should be a focus heading into the off-season for the 22-year-old.
Carter’s lack of discipline was also a major storyline through the doldrums of the 2025 season. Mike Kafka held Carter accountable for missing meetings and being late. Carter was benched on the first drive of the Green Bay game, in Kafka’s first time leading the team. Two weeks later, Carter was benched again for the entire first quarter of a primetime matchup against the New England Patriots. I love that Kafka held Carter to account for his immaturity.
What I love even more is Carter’s response. Carter had a string of his most impactful games to end the season under interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen, who praised Carter’s practice habits and how he handled the adversity. Carter’s lethargy at the facility was the most significant disappointment of his rookie season, and it was rectified and exceeded in the final weeks of the year; he gets an A+ for that action, but not for the totality of the season.
2025 Stats: 43 tackles, 25 solo, 20 STOPS, 7 TFLs, 2 FF | 66 pressures, 43 hurries, 4 sacks.
Grade: B
I would have signed up for this season from Jaxson Dart — most, if not all, of us would have from a character and performance perspective. Dart...
