All 105 is a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. Here is a profile of second-year linebacker Abdul Carter
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 249 pounds
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Before Penn State: Carter will begin his college football career after four years at La Salle College High School.
Carter received all-state honors twice and helped his team to a 9-2 record and Philadelphia Catholic League championship in 2021.
He finished his senior season with 78 tackles, two sacks, 10 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
247Sports, On3, Rivals and ESPN all had Carter as a four-star recruit, and three of the four sites had him as a top 10 prospect in Pennsylvania (ESPN ranked him 11th).
Carter committed to Penn State on the last day of July 2021, choosing coach James Franklin’s program over South Carolina and Ole Miss.
2022: It didn’t take long for Carter to become one of Penn State’s best defensive players. He was ejected on the first defensive play of his college career Week 1 at Purdue on a Thursday night.
— Sports Fan (@sportsnow12345) September 2, 2022
But Carter quickly overcame that and showed the college football world what he was capable of.
He finished the season with the team lead in sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (10.5) and finished second in solo tackles (36). He was one of four finalists for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.
Where he stands: Barring something unforeseen, Carter will be starting Week 1 against West Virginia, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t continue to be one of, if not Penn State’s best defensive players.
The biggest questions is: How good can he get, and will be America’s best linebacker by the time he’s done at Penn State.
A quote by Carter: “I did what I did in the past, and that’s in the past. But what can I do in the future? What can I do right now to get more?” — Carter to reporters at Penn State’s second-year player media availability this past February.
A quote about Carter: “He literally had a bench press and a power clean in the living room as soon as you walked in the house, which I think (Carter’s) mom was happy when he came to Penn State, that she could get her living room back.” — head coach James Franklin to reporters in Los Angeles ahead of Penn State’s Rose Bowl Game against Utah this past January
