Getty Quarterback Josh Johnson #8 of the Washington Redskins is sacked by linebacker Lorenzo Carter #59 and defensive end Kerry Wynn #72 of the New York Giants
With NFL training camps quickly approaching, there will be numerous New York Giants players looking to breakthrough from the shackles of mediocrity and cement themselves as mainstays in the league. Yet, which member of Big Blue is in the most desperate need of rewriting their current career trajectory?
Pro Football Focus posed an intriguing question to their followers via the PFF NY Giants Twitter account, asking fans which one player they feel “needs a breakout camp.”
Who’s the one player who needs a breakout camp?
Your typical high-end draft selections, such as Sam Beal and Corey Coleman, were tossed around as potential candidates. However more times than not, the Giants faithful landed on the highly-intriguing, yet vastly-underwhelming, Lorenzo Carter as their choice.
Lorenzo Carter Entering a Make-or-Break Year
Lorenzo Carter has always been a player lauded for his loads of potential. The former 5-star recruit and 14th-ranked player in the nation, per ESPN, arrived in Athens, Georgia with huge expectations.
Carter proved to be an effective defender during his four-year run with the Bulldogs but never proved to be the superstar many in the program hoped he could be. While Carter’s 6-foot-5-inch, long-limbed frame has proven to tantalize fans as a potential menace off the edge, more times than not, Georgia opted to use Carter as an off-ball linebacker.
His position flexibility has proven to carry over to the pros. Unfortunately, his lack of sack production seems to have as well.
In 48 games with UGA, Carter registered a grand total of just 14 sacks. Two seasons into his pro career and Carter has accumulated a meer 8.5 sacks, this on the heels of a career-high 4.5 sacks in 2019.
Carter’s lackluster production goes well beyond just his sack numbers, as noted by PFF. Of New York’s projected top-four pass-rushers in 2020, Carter ranks dead last in terms of pressure per percentage of pass-rushing snaps, with just 8.8%.
Percentage of pass-rushing snaps recording a pressure in 2019:
Golden 12.6%
Fackrell 11.8%
Ximines 9.3%
Carter 8.8%
For further clarity, Golden’s 12.6% pressure per percentage of pass-rushing snaps ranked 44th league-wide, while the NFL’s average came in at 9.4%.
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Carter Has Lofty Expectations in 2020
With the likely return of Golden, the near-certain uptick in snaps for Oshane Ximines and the free-agent addition of Kyler Fackrell, it’s clear Carter is on the hot seat entering his third-year with the G-Men.
However, you wouldn’t know it by his confident remarks during a recent appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast, in which he deemed himself as “a double-digit sack guy.”
“I feel like I’m definitely capable of being a double-digit sack guy for sure,” Carter said. “That’s just from what I’ve seen across the league. I’ve been watching the guys that get the sacks, and it’s just the little things that I have to perfect and I have to get better at, and I’m coming off the edge. Like I told my sister, I’ve got a little spark, and now it’s feet on the ground all go.”