EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Abdul Carter came around the left edge on one play last week as if he was shot out of a cannon. The bend allowed the New York Giants' third pick in the 2025 draft to get under rookie right tackle Marcus Mbow, but the contact that came from the offensive lineman didn't knock Carter off the path to the quarterback.
It happened so quickly that it looked as if the video of the play had glitched. One second Carter was standing at the line of the scrimmage and the next he was in the backfield.
It's just one example of the way Carter has stood out so far at training camp.
"This is a watered-down statement, but [he] a dog!" fellow outside linebacker Brian Burns said in a way which was meant as extremely high praise for the young pass rusher.
Carter began training camp working primarily with the second-team defense. Little by little, in less than a week, he has been getting more reps with the starting defense.
It was only a matter of time. The backup offensive linemen stand no chance, as evidenced by the one-on-one matchups Carter had with veteran tackle Stone Forsythe on Monday, which Carter won convincingly. On one occasion, Forsythe didn't even seem to get a hand on the rookie edge rusher.
The step-up in class has put Carter more against starting right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor in recent days. They've had their battles, with each winning reps, including one on Sunday where the rookie won with a lightning-quick inside spin move.
It only added to the reasons that Eluemunor has been impressed.
"I know that kid's going to be great. I tell him every day, tell him when I see him I think he's going to be great," Eluemunor said. "The characteristics he has, you can't teach. There's hard work, there's talent, but there's something that's just God-given like his twitch and his shiftiness that I've only seen twice in my career."
Eluemunor wouldn't say who the two players were that had the rare combination of twitch and shiftiness. He doesn't want the comparisons to put any more pressure on a player the Giants already have big plans for -- this season and beyond.
The team is as impressed by Carter's play early in camp as those watching from the sidelines. When a reporter mentioned that Carter would undoubtedly play a significant role this season, head coach Brian Daboll interjected with a sarcastic, "You think!?"
The bigger question might be where. Carter has already been seen this spring and summer rushing off the edge, as an off-ball linebacker and from the interior of the defensive line. His versatility makes this possible.
That is key because they are going to need to find snaps for Carter, Burns and 2022 first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux. Eluemunor thinks it will be the best pass-rushing trio in the league. They are all double-digit sack candidates, and the talent is obvious with the newcomer Carter.
"He's a hard worker. He's fast, he's twitchy -- he can play it all," Thibodeaux said.
Everyone seems to be seeing it in the early part of training camp, even with most of the action coming without pads. The Giants didn't have their first practice in full pads until Monday.
The signature Carter play to date was the spin move on Sunday that beat Eluemunor. It was impressive on multiple levels.
"Honestly, if you time it up, great, you can get a lot of players, I think. I'm hard to get with a spin move," Eluemunor said. "But I think that the more he learns the speed of the game and the more he's around Burns and [Thibodeaux] and once it gets out there and truly catches up with the speed and it's nothing for him, then yeah, he's going to be one of those ones for sure. ... I've been in this league for nine years now, played against all the best players in the NFL, all the best d-ends. He's a good one."
The spin move impressed Burns, especially as he looked at it from the perspective of the game within the game. The veteran edge rusher liked how it was set up with moves on previous plays.
"The move was nice. Great move. But what I'm more impressed with is the battle between him and [Eluemunor]," Burns said. "It wasn't just all-out one move. You know what I'm saying? He set that up. He's setting it up. I like the fact that he was patient enough to set up that move and be able to execute it."
These are the kind of details usually reserved for veterans in the league. Thibodeaux is still learning, and so is Carter. But he's showing signs that the curve might not be too steep, impressing those playing alongside and against him.
"He's swift. He can move really well and his tape is unbelievable as well," All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II said. "But like I said, it's the beginning of training camp and you chase perfection, but it'll never be perfection. So, I think that's the challenge."
At the very least, Carter is really good already.