Big Blue View
The New York Giants 2026 training camp is just a week away. With it we’ll get our first real look at how the next era of Giants’ football will take shape under John Harbaugh.
The Giants’ recent history has alternated between disappointing seasons and nightmare seasons, with little to show for the constant losing. The team has had plenty of high draft picks, but they haven’t developed to lift the team out of the doldrums.
Former NFL scout Bucky Brooks believes that could be at an end, and cites two Giants defenders on his 2026 All-Breakout defense. He believes that both edge defender Abdul Carter and defensive tackle Darius Alexander have the tools and opportunities to take dramatic leaps this year.
Brooks notes that NFL pro personnel evaluators look at second and third year players who end the seasons strongly when evaluating which young players might be primed for breakout performances. Both Carter and Alexander played significantly better for Mike Kafka and Charlie Bullen than they did under Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen.
This is what Brooks had to say about each:
The third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft was expected to take the league by storm as a freakishly athletic pass rusher with disruptive skills. While Next Gen Stats credited Carter with 72 QB pressures — including a league-best 48 quick pressures (occurring in under 2.5 seconds) — his sack production was underwhelming, with just four on the season. I expect him to get home more often in 2026. Under new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, the Giants are preparing to unleash “organized chaos” via a quintet of rare athletes in the front seven: Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Arvell Reese and Tremaine Edmunds. Carter should see his numbers explode in Year 2 with plenty of one-on-one opportunities.
New York’s trade of decorated defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati creates a huge opportunity for Alexander to flex his muscles as a disruptive force between the tackles. The 2025 third-round pick not only has a clear path to a starting role, but Roy Robertson-Harris‘ season-ending injury will lead to more playmaking opportunities for the youngster on a sack-obsessed front line. After notching three sacks and three tackles for loss over his final six games in 2025, the 6-4, 310-pounder is primed for a breakout season as a key piece of the Giants’ rejiggered defensive puzzle.
First and foremost, the Giants absolutely need both of these players to live up to their pre-draft evaluations.
Both have the potential to be impact players in the NFL, with rare athletic traits and the upside to be real problems for opposing players. I do agree with Brooks that their play down the stretch suggests a significant improvement in year two for both Carter and Alexander.
The fact that both Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen were fired mid-season last year gives us a rare chance to do...
