If we can all agree that there is no “next,’’ then maybe we can come to the understanding that Abdul Carter is “the one’’ after the one and only.
Carter is the one, as in the most-hyped and most highly anticipated defensive player the Giants added to their roster via the draft since … him. We are a bit reluctant to spell out his name because then all the comparisons and expectations start cascading down onto a 21-year-old still waiting to step foot onto the field for his first NFL regular-season game.
There are those who are adamant that no one deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Lawrence Taylor. The Giants in 2024 completed their 100th year of existence and, in a world where consensus-building is a slippery slope, there is total agreement that the man they call LT is the best to have ever donned a Giants uniform. Expanding the search to its widest circle, it might not be a unanimous opinion, but Taylor would receive more votes for the greatest defensive player in NFL history than anyone else.
Taylor arrived on the Giants scene in 1981 via the No. 2 pick in the draft. The buzz about him was near-deafening and he more than lived up to the hubbub. All these years later, Carter touched down inside the Giants universe, the No. 3 overall selection in this year’s draft, and the drumbeat is loud and clear.