One of Penn State football’s best players is on the watchlist for a major award.
We've selected 75 of the nation's best defensive players for our 2024 preseason Watch List. The award will be presented by @TheFWAA and @CTouchdownClub on Dec. 9. https://t.co/J307yCnF9e pic.twitter.com/GnmJXARAcW
— Nagurski Trophy (@NagurskiTrophy) July 30, 2024
Early Tuesday afternoon, the watchlist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy— presented annually to America’s top defensive player— came out, and Abdul Carter is on it.
The 6-foot-3, 259-pounder will be playing a new position this season.
After two successful seasons at linebacker— the latter of which Carter was named first-team All-Big Ten— Penn State decided to move him to defensive end over the winter.
Although this move will surely allow Carter to showcase his pass rushing skills, coach James Franklin made it clear at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis last week that Carter won’t become a one-trick pony.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“Week to week we’ll decide where he’ll have the most impact for us, whether it’s on the line of scrimmage at defensive end or in the linebacker position,” he noted, adding that Carter did feature mostly as a DE in the spring.
“This spring he stayed mainly at defensive end to get comfortable with that, and then after that we had a really good conversation, and he’s open to doing both,” said Franklin, which is a real asset for the defense.
That will also put us in a position where people can’t game plan and know exactly where he’s going to be on the defense. So we’re excited about that.”
Carter isn’t the only Penn State player to appear on a watchlist this weekend. QB Drew Allar and RB Nicholas Singleton are each on the Maxwell watchlist, and long snapper Tyler Duzansky is on the Patrick Mannelly watchlist for top long snapper.
The Naguski Trophy has been presented annually since 1993. No Penn State player has ever won it.
