The New York Giants drafted Abdul Carter No. 3 overall to rush the passer, not the punter. Still, it was notable that one of the big plays Carter made in his NFL debut Sunday against the Washington Commanders was to partially block a punt by Washington’s Tress Way.
Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said on Thursday that the play, which still ended up being a 31-yard punt, was indicative of more than Carter’s otherworldly athleticism.
“He’s got a special skill set, as we all know. The speed you see with him coming off the ball as a defensive player and rushing punts, he has that ability,” Ghobrial said. “I think above all that, I believe above all that, he truly wants to do it. He is a student of the game and wants to continue to study.”
An impressive aspect of the one-handed block by Carter was he appeared to be the only Giant truly rushing the Washington punter.
“I think his superpower obviously is his ability to go and get the ball,” Ghobrial said of Carter. “Whether that be a quarterback or whether that be the punter punting it. He is a special athlete. He was a former receiver. He does a good job in coverage. He does a good job in staying in phase with people if he was going to hold somebody up. He has that versatility.
“Again, the cool thing about him is you can ask him to do a lot, and the athletic traits show up in whatever you ask him to do. His versatility to me is very valuable on that unit because he has to be able to do everything that we’re asking the other guys to do.”
Carter played 38 defensive snaps and five on special teams.
“We’ll always take a commonsense approach depending on volume, depending on week to week, whether we can see him doing it or not,” Ghobrial said. “He definitely has a skill set to do it and it was cool to see him have success pretty early on in his career.”
Wan’Dale on kickoff returns
The Giants used wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson as a kickoff returner for the first time in his four-year NFL career vs. Washington. Robinson had two returns for 41 yards, 20.5 per return.
“He did it in college and he has a special skill set obviously with his speed, his toughness, his communication, and he has some definite conviction,” Ghobrial said. “I believe that when he has the ball in his hand, he has the ability to hit the home run ball consistently and any chance you have to put the ball in a playmaker’s hands, you’re going to try and do so. We’ve got to do a little bit better job blocking, but you see that there’s creases for him to hit and he’s willing to do so.”
Robinson returned 11 kickoffs for a 21.5-yard average for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2019. At Nebraska and Kentucky he returned a total of seven punts for a 2.1-yard average.
The claiming on waivers Thursday of kickoff/punt returner Xavier Gipson could mean that Robinson’s appearance as a return man is one-and-done.
Jamie Gillan on kickoffs
The Giants’ punter opened the game kicking off instead of placekicker Graham Gano. Gano then handled the remaining kickoffs.
What was that all about?
“Jamie showed us that he could have some flex to be able to punt and kickoff throughout the offseason, and I think it’s valuable whenever you have a guy that has the ability to do more than just one thing, especially when it comes to punters,” Ghobrial said. “The more flex that position specifically has, the more valuable he is on the roster. I have two guys back there that know how to be able to place it all over the place and that’s something that we’ll always look for to use.
“Obviously, one is a righty, and one is a lefty, but in terms of being able to put the ball all over the place, they both can do it. Sometimes it’s a feel thing. Who’s feeling it right now? Who’s gotten a lot of rhythm in the game? It sometimes could be scheme. It could be sometimes based off of feel.”
The Gano of old?
Entering the season there were worries that 38-year-old Graham Gano was an old, broken down placekicker the Giants might not be able to rely on after two injury-plagued seasons.
So far this season, he instead looks like the Gano of old. Gano is the franchise record holder with 26 made field goals from 50 yards or more. He hit three fields of 50 or more yards in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, then hammered a 55-yard field goal in Week against the Commanders that would have been good from several more yards.
Where is this resurgence coming from?
“He had a tremendous offseason. He was able to truly work on his craft throughout the whole offseason, which I think helped him go into training camp with a lot of confidence,” Ghobrial said. “Also, you just learn from year to year. When you do have an injury, you start to evaluate everything that’s part of your process. You see little things that you can potentially tweak to make you the best football player on game day.
“Those are all things that I believe that he held true to his heart. He looked at it, we studied it together, and he was able to come up with a good plan from week to week. It’s cool to see him have success.”
Dealing with Dallas
The Cowboys have two of the NFL’s best specialists in return man Kavontae Turpin and placekicker Brandon Aubrey.
Turpin was a first-team All-Pro in 2024 when he averaged 33.5 yards on kickoff returns and 10.4 on punt returns. For his career, he averages 28.8 yards on kickoff returns and 9.5 yards on punt returns.
Aubrey has been an All-Pro in each of his two seasons in the NFL, and had a long field goal last season of 65 yards.
“This week we have a tremendous challenge with the Dallas Cowboys, obviously with (Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver) KaVontae Turpin being the best returner in the National Football League, and you have (Cowboys’ placekicker) Brandon Aubrey that is basically in field goal range once he gets to the logo,” Ghobrial said. “Those two players I truly believe are impact players on the roster. Then you see other players on the roster show up as well. We have to make sure we show up this game and handle our business.”
That last part applies to the Giants’ offense and defense, as well.
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