Nearly halfway through his rookie contract, the answer is supposed to be a swift and unconditional “yes’’ when it comes to determining Lorenzo Carter’s worthiness to get a second deal with the team that drafted him.

Is this a swift and unconditional “yes’’ for Carter? The answer is “no,’’ and that is one of the very large problems the Giants face and one of the reasons why they are lugging around one of the NFL’s worst defenses.

Carter coming off the bus looks like one of the handful of guys you select for the game that day. Carter on the field at times plays up to that appearance, but not often enough and there are passages of play when he is too quiet to be considered a difference-maker. He is a stable and sensible young man with a pleasant smile and easygoing Georgia way about him, a devotee of classical music able to play the cello, baritone horn and tuba.

And he wants to get right this Giants defense.

“I want to be the solution,’’ Carter told The Post. “I want to be one of the reasons the Giants come back to the Giants, being a storied program, storied franchise that we are. I want to be one of the guys to help bring it back. That is gonna take some fire, take a little bit of spark, take a little bit of dirty ruggedness. If that’s what it’s gonna come down to that’s what we got to do.’’

This was supposed to be a big season for Carter, coming off a more-than-promising rookie year, when in limited action — he started only two games — he came away with 39 tackles, four sacks, 10 quarterback hits and seven tackles for loss. He was active but raw, long and lanky and a bit too skinny. Carter bulked up, gaining around 10 pounds, and the third-round pick in 2018 was supposed to blossom in 2019.

“Hopefully a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2’’ is the way outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson described the expectation for Carter.

Ten games into season No. 2, the big jump has not launched. Carter as a full-time starter has 33 tackles, 2.5 sacks, six quarterback hits and three tackles for loss. And it is not as if he is required to do it all on his own. Markus Golden on the other side of the line has 6.5 sacks and is turning into a smart free-agent signing.

The last time he suited up, Carter should have been able to harass Sam Darnold, given the depleted nature of the Jets offensive tackle situation. Carter played 50 of the 65 defensive snaps and barely registered on the production sheet with three tackles and not a single hit on the quarterback or tackle for loss.

“I feel like that’s one of those games he had high expectations but we just didn’t get it done,’’ Carter said. “We got beat on too many big plays, explosives and plays where if we had an eraser, if we had somebody that just got back there and wrecked it or hit the quarterback just a split second sooner, we’d be off the field.’’

On a unit devoid of star power, the Giants need Carter to be that eraser, be that somebody to wreck it and hit the quarterback a split second sooner. After Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones, Carter is the most important draft pick on general manager Dave Gettleman’s résumé. Dexter Lawrence and DeAndre Baker are first-round picks, but pass rushers are a rarer breed.

Gettleman traded Olivier Vernon to the Browns and eschewed taking Bradley Chubb in 2018 and Josh Allen in 2019. If Carter does not develop into a sack-happy force, Gettleman badly misjudged him and the Giants are in deeper trouble.

No one is asking Carter to be Khalil Mack, the destructor the Giants see Sunday in Chicago. They need him to be more than what he is, though.

Carter turns 24 on Dec. 10. He says he does not even know how many sacks he has this season and he does not sound overly concerned with his mediocre stats.

“They’re not where I want them to be I guess, but I haven’t even really looked,’’ he said. “I’m not focused on that stuff.’’

Carter knows there are two sides to him and does not apologize for that.

“Off the field and stuff I’m chill, happy-go-lucky, but on the field there’s that switch,’’ he said. “If I got to bring it out even more to help everybody else, then that’s what it is.’’

He has to bring it out even more.

For more on the Giants, listen to the latest episode of the “Blue Rush” podcast: