This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/giants as Abdul Carter Named as NY Giants' Breakout Player for 2025.

Carter is expected to help transform the Giants defense, but his arrival will cost his new teammates some playing time.

We’re counting down the 10 players most important to the Giants’ success in 2025. This is not necessarily a ranking of the best players on the team, but those in position to be the most impactful this season when the Giants open the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 7 against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders in Landover, Md.

The Giants haven’t been nasty enough. Nastiness starts on the line of scrimmage. It’s different from toughness. Toughness is a prerequisite for these gladiators to play this violent sport. Nastiness is more than that.

“I’ll give the credit to his dad, Chris, for being in his corner every step of the way,” says Mitchell Brown, who co-founded the Aztecs 30 years ago. “Every day, every practice, every trip that needs to be taken. There needs to be something said for that consistency. Abdul was always about practice: never a bad time to do some pushups.”

General manager Joe Schoen and the New York Giants took some big swings to rebuild the defense this offseason.Signing veteran defensive backs Jevon Holland and Paulson Adebo were critical investments to fortify a young and underachieving secondary.