Why Lorenzo Carter Might Be a Better Fit at Inside Linebacker

Lorenzo Carter was drafted to be an edge rusher. But after watching a larger sample size of him in this role, here's why a switch to off-ball linebacker might be a better fit.

Is a position switch in the future of Giants edge rusher Lorenzo Carter?

The panic button on this switch isn’t ready to be pushed quite yet, but the off-season? We wouldn't be shocked to see it happen, and here's why.

At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, Carter sure looks the part of an edge rusher, but he’s missing three crucial outside linebacker skills: He has no bull rush, he cannot bend the corner, and he’s not physical.

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Carter, who through four games has 14 tackles and a half-sack, gets his hits and tackles through discipline and effort, but almost always in pursuit.

At the point of attack, he is a negative. The outside linebacker in any 3-4 defense needs to hold his edge and rush the passer with physicality.

Thus far we've seen tight ends block Carter one-on-one and the defender play his edge as if he were on roller skates. These are all reasons why we see him as a much better fit inside.

In this Giants defense, inside linebackers don’t have to be physical types. They need to play smart, reliable, and disciplined team defense.

The since-traded B.J. Goodson sure could fill a hole, but it wasn’t the right hole often enough, and in coverage, he was a disaster.

Carter isn't a cowboy out there looking for the big hit, like inside starters Alec Ogletree and Tae Davis. Carter’s game reeks of reliability and discipline. We think he has a future as a core player on the inside.

Watching Ryan Connelly play inside linebacker so well and then seeing journeyman David Mayo step right in and be effective opened our eyes and got us thinking about a potential position switch for Carter.

Neither Connelly or May are physical nor particularly fleet afoot, but they sure know where to be on every single down. With all the big boys the organization has accumulated upfront, they don’t need the big, tough, physical inside linebacker behind them; they need a smart, reliable, disciplined type.

Carter not only has the smarts and the discipline, he also has some intriguing tools for the position like unusual height, very good speed and agility to go with that height and unusually long arms.

We’re talking about a guy who might be a real asset in coverage. His long legs could be a problem in stop-and-go situations, but we don’t see a problem with him staying with a tight end, and we don't see opposing offenses throwing over his head.

He would add another tree to the forest in the middle of the field where coverage has been a black hole for so long.

We haven’t even touched on Carter’s blitzing threat from the inside, which we suspect might be a big positive. With his speed, he can also do some shadowing against mobile quarterbacks.

Would the Giants make the switch? If they are thinking about it as we have, the time to do it isn't until the off-season. We believe the organization will be looking to add an elite talent to their outside linebacker corps.

Whether it comes via the draft or free agency, adding another solid edge rusher sure does look like an early off-season priority.

As for what kind of edge rusher they would need, look at how Markus Golden and Oshane Ximines play the position for the answer. Both play the edge the way we like to see it played--Golden with his physicality and effort, and Ximines, who will need to get stronger, has already shown natural pass-rush ability and plays with an edge.

At inside linebacker, we would move on from Ogletree and his big contract and turn Davis, who can run and hit and blitz, into a specialty player.

This entire defense needs to get a lot smarter and more disciplined. We think Connelly and Carter can be part of that solution at inside linebacker.

It's no accident that linebacker has been the most common position the Giants have taken a flyer on via the waiver wire.

Just in September alone, the team has scooped up physical outside linebacker Tuzar Skipper (a Kareem Martin clone with some pass-rush potential), edge Chris Peace, and inside linebacker Devante Davis.

As we would do with Ogletree, we would thank Martin for his transition contributions and turn to Skipper, whom we think can do at least as much as Martin at a fraction of the cost.

The team also just moved promising rookie Josiah Tauaefa, who we liked in the preseason for his--you guessed it--discipline, from the practice squad to the active roster. We're looking forward to seeing what he brings to the defense.

This upcoming off-season will be the third year of the Gettleman rebuild, and we like what’s happening. Moving Carter inside should help. 

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