Survey results: Giants fans expect big things from Abdul Carter

They also don’t expect to see much from Jaxson Dart

The New York Giants did the expected thing when they selected Abdul Carter at third overall.

As we covered at the time, five separate major mock drafts in the 36 hours leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft had the team selecting Carter before trading back into the first round to select QB Jaxson Dart.

But just because it was widely expected, doesn’t mean that the Giants made an incorrect decision.

Drafting Carter and then Dart made a lot of “football” sense, as well as situational sense for the Giants in particular. Carter has the potential to be a high-impact pass rusher, while Dart’s traits fit what the Giants want to do on defense. They’re also a team that needs all the talent they can get as well as a quarterback of the future.

Carter is the current favorite to win defensive rookie of the year, and has been widely compared to fellow Penn State linebacker-turned-edge Micah Parsons.

We asked the Big Blue View community whether Carter will have more, or less, than the “over-under” Las Vegas set at 7.5 sacks.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the excitement for Carter, the community overwhelmingly took the “over”.

Being an edge defender has been an advantage winning DROY in recent years, and five of the last six winners have been pass rushers of some description.

Carter’s pressure rate, pass rush win rate, extreme explosiveness, versatility, and aggressiveness when timing the snap all suggest that he’ll be a dangerous pass rusher immediately. The flip side is that he’ll be competing with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence, and fellow rookie Darius Alexander for sacks.

It’s possible that the Giants have one of the best pass rushes in the NFL, but so many different players are getting sacks that Carter misses the “over”. And if so, it’s unlikely that many will complain, particularly if Carter is enabling many of those sacks through sheer disruption.

But while fans are looking forward to seeing a lot of Abdul Carter — and a lot of him in opponents’ backfields in particular — they aren’t expecting to see Jaxson Dart as a rookie.

A full three quarters of fans are taking the “under” on Dart’s over/under of 1.5 starts as a rookie.

Dart has intriguing traits with plus athleticism and arm strength, but he also needs development before he’s ready to win games at the NFL level.

The Giants clearly had a plan in place for developing a young quarterback, and Dart was their preferred option. The addition of veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston give them time and scaffolding around Dart to allow him to develop without the pressure of having to win games. It will give him the opportunity to learn how practice and prepare as a professional, as well as work on his technical skills, without the pressure of games reinforcing bad habits.

It’s possible that we’ll see Dart during the season, perhaps the coaching staff will find snaps for him in low-stakes situations or in mop-up duty late in games that are effectively over. Ideally, he’ll get a start at the end of the year if the outcome of Week 18 doesn’t matter.

Getting to sit and learn was invaluable for Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Jordan Love. The hope is that the less Giants fans see of Dart, the better. At least until 2026, that is.