Giants may look to Carter, Barwin
Lorenzo Carter was helpless to stop Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from crushing Georgia’s college football championship dreams with a walk-off overtime touchdown pass in January. Because Carter was not on the field. Despite a career-high 10 tackles, a halfsack and a blocked overtime field goal in the Bulldogs’ preceding Rose Bowl victory over Oklahoma, Carter was standing on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium sideline in Atlanta when the Crimson Tide freshman stepped up in a clean pocket and launched that dagger touchdown pass to Devonta Smith.
“That eats at me,” Carter, 22, said Wednesday inside the Giants’ locker room. “I didn’t play a lot that game. So it was a tough situation to be in … I was standing right next to the coach, because I was expecting to get subbed in at some point … But I was just there waiting. We had the sack on first down, so I’m expecting to go in in our rush package. But I didn’t, and then I turned, saw the ball — and I knew it was over with.”
So the next time Carter hits the field, in Sunday’s Giants season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, don’t be shocked if No. 59 makes up for lost time and opportunity by flashing as impressively as any of the club’s other highly-touted rookies.
For while running back Saquon Barkley (first-round pick), left guard Will Hernandez (second round) and defensive tackle B.J. Hill (third round) are already etched in stone as starters, Olivier Vernon’s high left ankle sprain could thrust the 6-5, 252-pound Carter into a prime-time role as a critical pass rusher and edge-setter on the Giants’ defense.
And he showed with a pair of freakish preseason sacks that he has the ability, and he’s hungry to show more.
“There are a lot of guys that can go out there and make game-changing plays,” said Carter, a third-round pick at 66th overall, just ahead of Hill at 69th. “But you’ve got to go out there and do it. It’s that want-to. It’s that want-to to go out there and make big plays.”
Vernon told the Daily News his ankle “feels better than last week” as he headed to the weight room, but he sat out practice again Wednesday. And despite Vernon’s proven ability to play through injuries, it would be a huge risk to rush back the $17 million pass rusher with 15 sacks in 28 games as a Giant and a ferocious runstopping streak.
So if Vernon sits — or even if he is limited — that will leave veteran Connor Barwin, 31, and the rookie Carter as the key fill-ins who must make Jaguars QB Blake Bortles uncomfortable. And that pass rush will be doubly important until GM Dave Gettleman solves his lack of depth and reliability in a constantly-overturning secondary.
Gone is mainstay pass-rusher Jason Pierre-Paul, shipped to Tampa Bay on March 22 for the third-round pick that became Hill. And linebacker Kareem Martin, 26, now on the opposite edge, has just 4.5 career sacks and had only one last year in Arizona.
Barwin has been there, done that, which is a major reason Pat Shurmur brought him in on the first day of training camp. He has 55 career sacks, including a career-high 14.5 for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 and five in 14 games last year for the L.A. Rams, one while playing with a broken forearm.
“I just want to have a great season,” Barwin said Wednesday. “I’d like to have the best season of my career and contribute to this team and organization, help us get wins. I want to be a veteran presence, help guys like Lorenzo who are new and young, and share what I know about the league.”
Barwin, as he alluded, also is here to mentor and guide young players like Carter. Their lockers, in fact, are right next to each other. And Barwin admits Carter’s “ceiling is really high.”
“He’s got those physical tools,” Barwin said of Carter. “He’s got the speed, he can bend even though he’s 6-5. He’s long. He’s got long, long arms. There’s not many people that walk this earth with those kind of measurables. So he’s off to a good start.”
Barwin also said Carter “doesn’t need much mentoring. He’s a good rookie. He’s smart.” Carter, however, calls Barwin his “lifeline.” “When I need energy, anything extra at practice, I know Connor’s gonna be there yelling somewhere,” Carter laughed. “When I need that little boost, I listen for Connor in the background.”
It turns out, too, that Barwin and Carter have more in common than being Giants teammates at the same position.
Carter, a former five-star recruit, was heavily recruited in basketball by the likes of Florida State, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and several mid-majors. But he decided he had a better long-term chance of success in football and dropped the idea of playing both football and basketball at Georgia coach Mark Richt’s behest.
Barwin, now 6-4, 255, played four years of football at the University of Cincinnati and two of basketball, appearing in 34 games between the 2005-06 and 2006-07 Bearcats seasons.
“I had no idea he was such a hooper,” Barwin said of Carter with a smile. “Now I’m gonna have to get with him in the offseason and see if he’s any good.”