Lorenzo Carter aims to become “deadly pass rusher” for Giants

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In football, “deadly” is usually a good thing to be, except when it follows the words “silent” and “but.” For the Giants, one player specifically aspires to become deadly, when it comes to getting after quarterbacks.

“Deadly pass rusher” is the aspiration for Giants linebacker Lorenzo Carter, a 2018 third-round pick from Georgia.

“Length is a plus,” Carter said last week, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “It’s always better to be long. It’s something [defensive coordinator James Bettcher], he always says, ‘You’re long, don’t shrink down, don’t try to play smaller than you are. Play long, play explosive.’ Explosiveness with length is a deadly thing.”

With Olivier Vernon gone and the Giants passing on Josh Allen with the sixth overall pick, they need someone else to step up. They hope Carter will.

“They didn’t get a pass rusher but I didn’t look at it like that,” Carter said. “I’m looking at me going into Year Two, what steps I need to make to be better. I guess they showed faith but I want to go out there and prove it to myself and prove it to everybody else.”

“He is rushing with a plan,” Bettcher said regarding Carter. “A year ago he was trying to get off the ball as quick as he could and use his hands when he could. Now, you see a guy that is aware of how he wants to rush, aware of techniques that he wants to rush with. Guys that get in there as pass rushers, you see their best growth in the two and three years. You start to figure out what they are as rushers. He is really starting to figure that out. He is building his pass-rush toolbox right now.”

With a limited toolbox, Carter managed four sacks as a rookie. He’ll need to at least double (maybe triple) that in 2019, if he hopes to be known as a “deadly pass rusher.”