Penn State defensive finish Abdul Carter has received multiple honors following his massive day against Illinois. The junior is each the Big Ten defensive participant of the week and the Senior Bowl co-national defensive participant of the week. In Saturday’s win over the Fighting Illini, Carter totaled seven tackles and led the Lions with 4 tackles for loss and two sacks. He additionally pressured a fumble within the sport’s closing minutes to lastly put head coach Bret Bielema’s aspect away for good.
“Just playing fast, playing with a little effort, that’s one thing I pride myself on,” Carter stated after the sport. “Make positive I play the sport with the whole lot I bought, each play, and I really feel prefer it confirmed immediately.
“Just got to keep growing, keep learning, just keep getting better. Keep taking these weeks week by week, just stack days, stack weeks, to get better. Like I said, you haven’t seen the best of me yet.”
That final sentence ought to be scary for future Big Ten foes. Carter, in fact, is in his first season as a full-time defensive finish after profitable All-Big Ten honors at linebacker final season. He is the second Penn State participant to win convention participant of the week honors this season. Safety KJ Winston Jr., who's coping with a long-term harm, additionally received after a giant day at West Virginia again in Week 1.
Carter will doubtless be the following first-round NFL Draft decide from Penn State
Before Saturday’s statistical outburst, Carter sat at No. 7 on ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper’s 2025 massive board. He must declare early to be a part of subsequent 12 months’s professional choice course of. That is prone to occur on the conclusion of the 2024 season.
“Carter is versatile and has plenty of experience effectively operating as an off-ball linebacker, helping him crack 60 tackles in each of the past two seasons at Penn State,” Kiper writes. “But the hope this season is he can make a dent in opponents’ game plans as a pass rusher off the edge. Carter has the traits to wreak havoc there, getting pressure on 24% of his pass rush snaps last season. He is instinctive and fast flying to the football.”
In a latest mock draft, The Draft Network’s analysts ship Carter to the Washington Commanders with the No. 10 total decide. That would put him into multiple matchups with former Nittany Lion Saquon Barkley, who's the beginning operating again for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“The interior defensive line in Washington is stout but they need some help at EDGE to generate more pressure on opposing quarterbacks,” Daniel Harms writes. “Abdul Carter is a top-tier athlete and Dan Quinn would know exactly how to use a player of this caliber.”
