“It’s time for him to become a Giants linebacker. There are a lot of players who have played linebacker for the Giants, but it’s been a long time since there’s been a Giants linebacker on the team. Lorenzo has the skill set to become what I consider a Giants linebacker in the tradition of Giants linebackers.’’
Those are the words of WFAN’s New York Giants game analyst, Carl Banks, discussing Lorenzo Carter in an exclusive interview with Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post released Tuesday night.
Banks, of course, knows what a “Giants linebacker” looks like – he was one, literally and figuratively, and played alongside two Hall of Famers at the position while winning two Super Bowls with the G-Men.
Carter, who was Big Blue’s third-round pick in 2018, seems to be on the cusp of that kind of stardom, even if Banks doesn’t think he’s quite tapped into his potential just yet.
“A guy like Lorenzo can really be a star in that defense, but I’ve seen a guy who’s got a lot of talent that has yet to put it all together,’’ Banks said. “He absolutely can be a difference-maker. He hasn’t gotten there yet. He hasn’t put it on the field yet, but he has that skill set and then some.’’
Per Pro Football Focus, in 403 snaps on run defense in his career, Carter has 39 tackles for zero or negative yardage (9.6 percent of plays), and in 395 pass-rush snaps, he has 64 pressures and 8.5 sacks, a 16.2 percent rate of disruption.
Not quite at the level of an LT, Jessie Armstead, or Antonio Pierce, but Banks told Cannizzaro that if Carter needs extra motivation, he can take it from recent comments by linebackers coach Bret Bielema.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean this in any way that was negative, but (Bielema) said, ‘We’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of good guys who come to work every day [and] there are no stars in the group,’” Banks said. “If I’m a guy like Lorenzo Carter, I want to change that narrative. I want to show the coach that there are stars in the group.’’
Banks noted to Cannizzaro that as it relates to Carter’s previous inconsistency, 60 percent of the culpability fell on the player, but “probably 40 percent” was because the Giants were “fundamentally inept” under former defensive coordinator James Bettcher.
He doesn’t believe that will continue, and says he thinks Carter can be “great.”
“It takes more than just ability,’’ Banks said. “It takes a commitment to fundamentals each and every practice. There are very few guys that you get your hands on with his size, his athletic ability. He seems to love football. But you’ve got to ask more of yourself. I think he’ll be given the parameters by which he can become great in this system. And the rest of it comes down to him. It’s up to him.’’
To Carter’s credit, this is what he had to say about what he’s seen and what the team has been working on so far in camp.
“It's just doing our job. It's a lot of do your job. Right now, the focus is on fundamentals and making sure that you do your job to the best of your ability,” Carter said Wednesday. “I think if we do that and I do my job setting edges, letting the linebackers do their job filling gaps, and just play together as a team, we're going to have a great chance to be successful.”
And for Carter to reach that level of greatness?
“I think it's always just refining your game, trying to become a more powerful player for me. Just making sure I do everything and put myself in the position to be successful with whatever the coaches ask me to do,” Carter said. “It was really just refining my game, like I said, working hands, working power, and working the angles really because a lot of times, it comes down to what types of angles you have.”
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