The Giants went down the expected route on Thursday night, using the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to select a potential difference-maker in Penn State edge defender Abdul Carter.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound 21-year-old was an All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in an impressive 2024 season that saw him rocketing up draft boards. But how does he fit into the Giants’ defensive system?

Scheme-wise, it’s an ideal fit. Shane Bowen’s defense employs four-man fronts and Carter would be able to line up on the edge as he did with the Nittany Lions last season. However, the Giants already have Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux to play defensive end, so how can Carter be worked into the mix?

Having three impact pass rushers is a nice problem to have, and certainly not the kind of thing that would dissuade a team like the Giants from picking a player as talented as Carter. While the pick itself may not have addressed a specific positional need, New York was in the market for any impact playmakers on either side of the ball, so Carter is going to help. Besides, as general manager Joe Schoen said after the draft, “you can’t have enough pass rushers.”

Both Burns and Thibodeaux have been on the field about 80 percent of the time in their careers so, which wouldn’t leave many reps available for Carter to fill in. However, a reduced role can have benefits, too. A pure three-man rotation would still potentially enable all three players to be on the field 65-to-70 percent of the time, which is more than many rotation-heavy defenses would typically use their defensive ends.

Such an approach would hopefully ensure that each of these players is fresher at the end of the game, giving the team three potential closers after they blew the lead in five of their 14 losses last season. In addition, the playing time for any of the trio can be ramped back up again in the event of an injury. 

The team would still need to be wary of who is designated as the starters or on the field in crunch time, though, if they want to avoid any bruised egos. However, one potential way to mitigate this could be to explore ways of getting all three of them on the field at once.

It was, of course, the Giants themselves who helped popularize the approach of having more than two edge rushers in the game at once when they used what came to be known as the “Nascar Package” during their 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl runs. 

The possibilities are practically limitless but could include lining two edges out wide on one edge and one on the other, or having one of the three edges standing up in the A-gap next to the center so he can use his quickness advantage against an interior lineman. Another popular package around the league involves lining up a defensive tackle over the center with two edge rushers to one side of him, leaving the other edge rusher isolated in space.

These packages are designed to set up a one-on-one matchup, especially if the opposing offensive line has a weak link. The presence of Dexter Lawrence in the middle makes such packages all the easier to run because he’s automatically going to draw a double-team if he rushes the interior, leaving the three other linemen to block one-on-one. That’s before you even get into the possibilities of running games and stunts.

Bowen doesn’t like to blitz, but it felt like he was forced to at times last year with the Giants overmatched in coverage. If New York can routinely get home with four, that will no longer be a concern.

Most teams will see their offensive line overmatched in such packages, so they will have to leave extra bodies in to block or revert to a short passing game, making them all the more predictable. All the Giants will have to do is get into these obvious passing situations by performing well against the run and against short passing games -- something Carter’s presence and the rotation keeping everyone fresh is also going to help with.

In certain non-passing packages, the Giants could even take this concept a step further and put all three of their edges on the field in the base defense by employing Carter in an off-ball role.

Micah Parsons is an interesting player to bring up at this point, because Giants fans will no doubt be hoping that Carter’s ultimate impact is somewhat similar to what Parsons has brought to their NFC East rivals in Dallas. Parsons, who also went to Penn State, was primarily an off-ball defender in college, but had shown some pass rushing potential. The Cowboys converted him into a full-time edge role and turned him into an All-Pro.

Carter was similarly an off-ball linebacker in his first two years with the Nittany Lions, although he was still an impact player with 11 sacks and 17 tackles for loss over the two seasons. His move to the edge came last year and he thrived, eclipsing the production from his first two seasons by racking up 12 sacks and 24 tackles for loss. 

It’s clear that on the edge is where Carter can make the most impact, but could they give consideration to pulling a “Reverse-Micah” and using him situationally in a part-time off-ball role as well? It would certainly bring flexibility to Bowen’s defense and an opportunity to get the best 11 on the field and run some exotic packages.

Overall, Carter ultimately just needs to make an impact rushing the passer and his playing time, role and rotations will take care of themselves. Giants fans will be excited to see what kind of upgrade he can bring.