Abdul Carter entered the NFL with plenty of buzz, but his first year with the Giants didn’t exactly match the hype. The rookie edge rusher finished with just four sacks, a modest total for a player expected to make an immediate splash.
Still, one analyst saw something far bigger than the raw numbers. On the Mina Kimes Show, Mina Kimes said Carter’s tape reminded her of Von Miller, the kind of comparison that turns heads fast.
“The juice off the line of scrimmage is unbelievable. Like on stunts, there are moments where it looks like he is teleporting. The player he actually reminded me of a little bit was Von Miller.”
Kimes didn’t stop there. She also made the case that Carter has the tools to become a major sack producer year after year.
“To me has all of the tools to be a double-digit every year sack player. I think he's so talented. Giants fans, you should be thrilled about him based on what I saw.
That’s lofty company. Miller has played 14 seasons in the NFL and piled up 138.5 sacks. In his first nine years, he made eight Pro Bowls and seven All-Pro teams, and from 2014 to 2018 he put together five straight double-digit sack seasons.
Kimes wasn’t predicting Carter will duplicate Miller’s career, only that the traits are similar. Even so, hearing Carter mentioned alongside a future Hall of Famer says plenty about the kind of upside he carries.
There are real reasons to think the Giants could see a leap from Carter in his second season. He posted 66 pressures as a rookie, which ranked 13th in the NFL, and he’s already shown an explosive first step, the ability to win around the edge, and a growing pass-rush toolkit as he continues his move from off-ball linebacker to edge rusher.
The next step is turning those pressures into more sacks. If Carter does that, the double-digit production Kimes talked about starts to look a lot less like a dream and a lot more like a path.
For now, though, the focus is on growth. Carter has a lot left to prove, and the Giants need that next jump if their defense is going to hit its ceiling.
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