The New York Giants 2026 training camp is just a week away. With it we’ll get our first real look at how the next era of Giants’ football will take shape under John Harbaugh.
The Giants’ recent history has alternated between disappointing seasons and nightmare seasons, with little to show for the constant losing. The team has had plenty of high draft picks, but they haven’t developed to lift the team out of the doldrums.
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Former NFL scout Bucky Brooks believes that could be at an end, and cites two Giants defenders on his 2026 All-Breakout defense. He believes that both edge defender Abdul Carter and defensive tackle Darius Alexander have the tools and opportunities to take dramatic leaps this year.
Brooks notes that NFL pro personnel evaluators look at second and third year players who end the seasons strongly when evaluating which young players might be primed for breakout performances. Both Carter and Alexander played significantly better for Mike Kafka and Charlie Bullen than they did under Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen.
This is what Brooks had to say about each:
Abdul Carter – Edge defender
The third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft was expected to take the league by storm as a freakishly athletic pass rusher with disruptive skills. While Next Gen Stats credited Carter with 72 QB pressures — including a league-best 48 quick pressures (occurring in under 2.5 seconds) — his sack production was underwhelming, with just four on the season. I expect him to get home more often in 2026. Under new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson, the Giants are preparing to unleash “organized chaos” via a quintet of rare athletes in the front seven: Carter, Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Arvell Reese and Tremaine Edmunds. Carter should see his numbers explode in Year 2 with plenty of one-on-one opportunities.
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Darius Alexander – Defensive tackle
New York’s trade of decorated defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati creates a huge opportunity for Alexander to flex his muscles as a disruptive force between the tackles. The 2025 third-round pick not only has a clear path to a starting role, but Roy Robertson-Harris‘ season-ending injury will lead to more playmaking opportunities for the youngster on a sack-obsessed front line. After notching three sacks and three tackles for loss over his final six games in 2025, the 6-4, 310-pounder is primed for a breakout season as a key piece of the Giants’ rejiggered defensive puzzle.
Chris’ thoughts
First and foremost, the Giants absolutely need both of these players to live up to their pre-draft evaluations.
Both have the potential to be impact players in the NFL, with rare athletic traits and the upside to be real problems for opposing players. I do agree with Brooks that their play down the stretch suggests a significant improvement in year two for both Carter and Alexander.
The fact that both Brian Daboll and Shane Bowen were fired mid-season last year gives us a rare chance to do a relatively controlled A-B comparison for the defense, and the improved play is encouraging.
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Abdul Carter’ rate stats suggest that he can be a devastating pass rusher when he sets his mind to it, which he did after Kafka raised the levels of accountability. Carter’ explosiveness and lower-body fluidity are simply rare, and he moves like a young Von Miller. His ability to create quick pressure backs up the comparison, but the failures to finish speak to a young and inexperienced player who needs to pay closer attention to details in the biggest moments.
John Harbaugh should keep the levels of accountability high, and Bullen remains to keep working with Carter on the finer points of his position. That bit of continuity, as well as a (hopefully) improved scheme under Wilson should create the kind of environment Carter needs to realize his potential.
Likewise, Alexander improved steadily in the second half of the season. Part of Alexander’s slow start could have been missing much of his rookie off-season to an undisclosed injury. However, an improved attention to detail during the week under Bullen may have helped the Toledo product raise his game.
Alexander became a regular presence in opponents’ backfields down the stretch last year. The absence of Dexter Lawrence, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, and Roy Robertson-Harris will give him the opportunity to build on the momentum Alexander established at the end of the year.
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The most frustrating aspect of the Giants’ defensive play the last couple years hasn’t exactly been the results. Rather, it’s the fact that they have a number of players at every level who should be better than they’ve been. The conversation around the Giants in general, and defense in particular, would be entirely different if young players like Carter, Alexander, Deonte Banks, and Tyler Nubin can all take a step forward. If they can play up to their potential and maintain the flashes we’ve seen, the Giants’ defense could be legitimately scary.
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