Giants select Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter with No. 3 pick in NFL draft

Pat Leonard, New York Daily News on Apr 24, 2025

Published in Football

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The Giants selected Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter with Thursday night’s No. 3 overall pick, the closest thing to a consensus elite prospect in this 2025 NFL draft.

“You can’t have enough pass rushers,” Giants GM Joe Schoen said before picking a pass rusher in the top five for the second time in his four drafts.

Carter, 21, is an explosive converted off-ball linebacker who posted 12 sacks, 24 tackles for loss and 68 tackles in his third and final season for the Nittany Lions.

He sustained a shoulder injury late in the college season. And doctors found a stress reaction in Carter’s right foot at the NFL combine in late February.

But doctors ultimately advised Carter against having foot surgery. And although Carter did not work out at Penn State’s Pro Day, Schoen said before the draft that Carter “feels good, he’s working out, he’s running … I don’t think there’s going to be much room for pause there.”

He is a Day 1 starter on the edge who Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen will pair with Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux to hopefully improve New York’s pass rush.

“Everybody watched the Super Bowl, right? Philly rushed with how many, four the whole game? That’s one way to do it,” Schoen said before the draft. “[He is] a unique player like him that played off the ball for two years and has only played one season off the edge and had a really good season.

“You’ve got Kayvon, and you’ve got Burns, you’ve got Dex inside,” the GM added. “It gives you a lot of options. He’s a versatile player. He’s young, just 21 years old and an exciting player to watch.”

The Giants hope to get even a sliver of the kind of NFL production that Micah Parsons, the last great Penn State edge rusher, has given the Dallas Cowboys since former Giants GM Dave Gettleman passed on him in 2021.

Like Parsons, Carter’s scouting report is not squeaky clean.

Carter was accused of assaulting a tow truck driver one year ago during an alleged incident in which the driver suffered a fractured rib. Carter also has been characterized as more individualistic than team-oriented in his on-field football approach by some scouts, needing more discipline to stay in structure rather than always pursuing a big play.

One scout said he projects to become an “elite” starting defensive end, though, and he showed NFL teams a lot by playing through a bad shoulder during a College Football Playoff loss to Notre Dame.

The Giants tried to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick to take Miami quarterback Cam Ward but weren’t able to get there.

During a spring’s worth of negotiations, Schoen offered the Tennessee Titans the Giants’ No. 3 overall pick this year, the Giants’ first-round pick next year and more, per ESPN. But Tennessee said no thanks.

New York reportedly was the most aggressive team in pursuit of that No. 1 overall selection.

This marks the second straight year Schoen has offered a future first-round pick to try to move up for a quarterback.

Last year, Schoen included picks No. 6 and No. 47 overall and the Giants’ 2025 first-rounder in a package to the Patriots for No. 3 to take North Carolina’s Drake Maye. But New England wouldn’t take it.

So the Giants stuck and took a pass rusher after the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to No. 2 overall with Cleveland to selected Colorado receiver/corner Travis Hunter.

And now they still need a QB.