CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During a photo shoot a couple of hours before the Bronko Nagurski Trophy dinner Monday night, Abdul Carter was all business.
As Carter posed with the trophy, awarded to the nation’s top defensive player, a photographer tried to coax a smile out of the Penn State defensive end. At one point, the gentleman invoked the name of Will Anderson, the former Alabama linebacker whose menacing glare in the Crimson Tide’s 2022 team picture — while next to a smiling Bryce Young — went viral on social media.
But Carter wasn’t having it. So the photographer snapped off a few more frames of a non-smiling Carter before Carter stepped to the side on the stage at the Charlotte Convention Center.
Carter’s bringing a businesslike approach to the Nagurski ceremony was very on brand. Much of what the Philadelphia native has done over the past year — from approaching Penn State coach James Franklin about moving from linebacker to defensive end after last season, to signing with power agent Drew Rosenhaus over the summer — has been with the goal of putting himself in the best position for the NFL Draft.
So does Carter think he’ll be the first defensive player off the board this spring?
“I want to be the No. 1 overall pick,” Carter said Monday after the photo shoot. “I feel like I’m the best player in the country. I’ve just gotta keep showing that. Our season’s not over yet. We’ve got the playoffs. I’m just gonna continue to prove that.”
In Dane Brugler’s mock draft last week, The Athletic’s draft analyst had the 6-3, 252-pound Carter going to the Carolina Panthers with the fifth pick. Brugler’s projection makes some sense. The Panthers, who at 3-10 are No. 4 in the draft order, have a lot of needs.
But Young’s dramatically improved play at quarterback over the past five weeks gives general manager Dan Morgan the flexibility to take the best player available with what should be a very high pick. The Panthers’ pass rush has come alive in recent weeks with the emergence of a healthy D.J. Wonnum. But Wonnum and Jadeveon Clowney are only signed through 2026, and the 31-year-old Clowney sat out last week with a knee issue he jokingly attributed to getting old.
So adding an edge rusher with what Brugler called “freaky burst and developing power” certainly could be an option for Morgan, who was among those in attendance at Monday’s Nagurski dinner.
South Carolina pass rusher Kyle Kennard became the Gamecocks’ first winner of the Nagurski Trophy when he was selected over Carter, Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron and Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, another potential Panthers target who declared for the draft Tuesday morning.
Graham, a state champion wrestler in California, is a disruptive player with good explosion and leverage who could help the Panthers’ 32nd-ranked run defense.
Graham’s season is over: He’s skipping the Wolverines’ bowl game, his agent told the Detroit Free Press.
Meanwhile, Carter is gearing up for the Nittany Lions’ appearance in the first 12-team College Football Playoff, starting with a home game against SMU on Dec. 21.
“It’s gonna be dope,” Carter said. “And it’s gonna be a whiteout game. Fans are gonna be electric, players gonna be hyped up. It’ll be a fun environment.”
Carter was a high-impact player as a linebacker during his first two seasons with the Nittany Lions. In 2022 he became only the second Penn State freshman to finish with six or more sacks and 10-plus tackles for loss in a season.
He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection after a sophomore season highlighted by 4 1/2 sacks, 5 1/2 tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble, five pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.
But Carter thought there was more out there for him — specifically, more money. So during his exit meeting after the season, Carter told Franklin he wanted to switch to defensive end — never mind the school’s “Linebacker U” tradition and Carter’s No. 11 jersey, which was worn by legendary PSU linebackers LaVar Arrington and Micah Parsons.
“I just knew myself, knew my training. Just knowing the work I put in and knowing I could take my game to another level, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Carter said.
He also wanted to take his family’s finances to another level.
“I definitely know edge rushers, that’s one of the most high-value positions. You get paid the most,” he said. “And that’s what I want to do — I want to put my family in a situation where they never have to work again. Just create generational wealth for my whole family.”
Carter, one of five children, said his mom worked as a nurse, and his father is a limousine driver who’s had a lot of trips with Philadelphia Eagles players. “Any time he told me he drove an Eagles player, he learned a lot from them, just asking about them,” Carter said. “Because he was raising a son who’s trying to accomplish their dreams and doing everything they’re doing.”
Carter also has picked Parsons’ brain about the NFL. The two worked out together last summer at a gym in Brooklyn.
Asked how it went, Carter said: “You can see the results. The gym got the job done.”
Best of the Best
B1G Defensive Player of the Year 🏆#WeAre x @1NCRDB1 pic.twitter.com/geJtHrLfNB
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 3, 2024
In his first year on the edge, Carter was the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year after racking up 10 sacks and a Big Ten-leading 20 tackles for loss. Six of his sacks came during the last month of the regular season against Ohio State, Washington and Maryland.
“The guy is playing with a phenomenal motor,” Franklin told The Athletic before the Big Ten Championship Game. “He is impacting the game in a number of ways, which creates opportunities for other guys on our defensive line and within our defense and causes a lot of headaches. …
“He’s been great. His attitude’s been great. He is coachable. He is becoming more and more of a leader every single day.”
If Penn State gets past SMU, the Nittany Lions likely would be favored in a quarterfinal matchup against Boise State. So Carter could have a few more opportunities to light up the biggest of stages.
After that, he’ll start preparations for the 2025 NFL Draft, which is in Green Bay, Wis. Carter certainly will be among the prospects invited to Lambeau Field, where he’s expected to be one of the first players drafted.
Presumably then — when he’s getting a hug from Roger Goodell — Carter will smile.
(Top photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
