‘Best game’ for rookie LB Carter

Saquon Barkley has impressed Giants fans since his first preseason touch. Now, the team’s top defensive draft pick is showcasing exciting potential, too.

Rookie linebacker Lorenzo Carter notched a career-high seven tackles in Monday’s 27-23 win over the 49ers, which included a team-high three tackles for a loss. The third-round pick may have been at his best in pass coverage, and impressively stuffed back-to-back third-quarter passes to fullback Kyle Juszczyk and tight end George Kittle.

Entering the game, Carter, who has two sacks this season, was graded by Pro Football Focus as the fifth-best rookie edge defender (minimum 200 snaps).

“I thought Lorenzo Carter had his best game,” coach Pat Shurmur said Tuesday. “He did a good job not only rushing, but in coverage.”

The Giants failed to record a sack and rank 31st in the league with just 10 through nine games, but Shurmur felt the defense created sufficient pressure against 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens, who threw two interceptions.

“We were close on a couple that could’ve been sacks, but I do think we were disruptive enough to affect the outcome,” Shurmur said.

Coming off their bye week, the Giants attempted to establish the run and gave Barkley a career-high 20 carries, which the second-overall pick could only turn into 67 yards. The rookie running back added four receptions for 33 yards, and now ranks third in the NFL with 1,116 yards from scrimmage.

The Giants finished with 97 yards rushing, failing to crack 100 yards for the sixth time this season.

Despite the clear desire to spark the long-struggling run game, Shurmur’s greatest priority remains keeping Barkley heavily involved in the offense, by any means.

“Whether we hand it to him or throw it to him, it really doesn’t matter,” Shurmur said. “You’d like to see your back touch the ball or run the ball close to 20 times. One of the biggest plays on our last drive was a choice route that he caught and ran down inside the 10.”