Big Blue View
Good morning, New York Giants fans!
Defensive rookie of the year: 1. Abdul Carter, Edge, New York Giants The sacks will come. Carter has only a half-sack to his name through eight games, but the underlying pressure metrics suggest that there’s a lot more happening. He has been the best rookie pass rusher in the NFL, and that has been by a considerable margin. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Carter has 34 pressures. No other rookie has more than 17. He has 20 quick pressures, the immediate victories that help blow up plays before they form. No other rookie has more than nine, and Carter’s total is third among all players. He hasn’t been excellent against the run, a teamwide problem for a Giants defense that ranks last in EPA per play against designed rushes this season, but Carter’s time is coming. Don’t be surprised if he has a more visible second half.
Heading into Week 10, Brian Burns leads the NFL with his 11.0 sacks. He’s picked up at least one sack in eight of nine games this season, including three games with multiple sacks. With eight games remaining, Burns is just 1.5 sacks behind his career-high of 12.5 set in his 2022 Pro Bowl campaign. He is also just three tackles for loss behind his high-mark of 17, which he set in both 2022 and 2024. The seventh-year linebacker spoke at the start of training camp about wanting to take his game to another level. It’s safe to say he is doing just that.
Safety Jevon Holland said it’s about players executing, not about some extra intense level of effort, pride or want-to.
“If you execute, you do your job, and if you do your job, you make the play,” Holland said. “If you don’t want to do your job, you’re not executing. If you execute, everything else falls in line. Even if you hate playing run defense, let’s say you’re a three-technique [defensive lineman. If you do your job and get knock back on the guard, you’re creating an advantage for the defense to make a stop. People try to make things more than they need to be. If you do your job, even if you’re not being wildly aggressive,...
