STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — When James Franklin arrived in Philadelphia and stepped inside Abdul Carter’s home, Penn State’s coach wasn’t sure what was going on.
There were weights spread across the hardwood floor in the living room, which doubled as a training ground. It was certainly a unique setup for an in-home visit. But it wasn’t for show. This was where Abdul’s father, Chris, regularly put his son through various workouts. Everyone else, including Carter’s little sister, knew to stay to the side when he was training.
“We had everything he needed to be a legit powerlifter,” Chris said with a laugh. “It may have been strange for other people to have a weight room inside their home, but it wasn’t for me. It optimized me being efficient with his workouts.”
It was the most convenient and cost-effective way for the family to help Carter secure a college scholarship. Chris played linebacker and defensive end at Bloomsburg University and took to YouTube to learn more about how to best train his son. Carter moved from the north Philly Aztecs youth league to La Salle College High School and then to Penn State where he has the Nittany Lions competing in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship Game and in line to make the College Football Playoff.
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If there’s one player who can best help No. XXX Penn State upset No. 1 Oregon on Saturday night and be the X-factor for the Nittany Lions’ Playoff run, it’s the newly minted Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Carter, with 10 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss this season, has been on a tear with six of those sacks coming in the past month against Ohio State, Washington and Maryland. It’s the type of season that has Carter pegged as a projected first-round draft pick whose sky-high NFL stock could continue to rise during a Playoff run.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler currently has Carter as the No. 3 selection on his 2025 NFL Draft big board.
“The guy is playing with a phenomenal motor,” Franklin said. “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.”
Carter has done all this while fighting through a bevy of would’ve and could’ve been holding penalties. He was so elated to see a flag finally thrown last month at Purdue that he jumped and celebrated on the field after getting a call. Conversations with father and son have included making sure Carter stays positive even if it’d be understandable to be frustrated. Within the past month, Franklin even publicly questioned how opponents opposite Carter weren’t getting flagged for holding.
Still, he credited Carter for not playing like someone who was frustrated. Dan Lanning’s team knows Carter will require much attention.
“He wreaks havoc,” Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “He’s a disruptive player. Extremely physical, but also I think his ability to go from extremely physical to finesse and speed I think it’s pretty impressive.”
Carter, as he has maintained all season, insists his best is yet to come. After going to the coaching staff last winter and asking if he could move from linebacker to defensive end — the position Penn State originally wanted him to play when it recruited him — the Nittany Lions continue reaping the rewards of the position switch. Chris admits he was wrong. He wanted Carter to stay at linebacker this season and hoped the staff would create a role where he could rush the passer at linebacker. He credits Carter for understanding better than he could that a move to defensive end was best.
“Look, I’d love to say it was that smooth, but that’s not reality,” Chris said. “I was against it. … When you make that kind of gamble you have to be correct. … In my eyes, he’s still a rookie edge rusher, and there’s a lot more to come, a lot more to learn.”
It took several games for Carter to lock in and not jump offsides, which was an issue in the season opener. But, the back half of the season has shown what Carter is capable of and just how much of a one-man wrecking crew he can be. That has to be a tantalizing thought for NFL talent evaluators.
“There’s never going to be a time where you’ve got it figured out or you’re at your best,” Carter said this week. “I don’t want to be too high on myself. I always just want to find areas to get better.”
Seated at the front of the Beaver Stadium media room this week with a blue-and-white colored Louis Vuitton jacket and sunglasses, Carter exuded the confidence of someone ready for his closeup as extra sets of eyeballs, including those of NFL talent evaluators, will be on him in the coming weeks. He has had NFL mega-agent Drew Rosenhaus in his corner this season with Rosenhaus appearing at games and even riding out a lightning delay with Carter’s family during the season opener at West Virginia.
Carter signed with Rosenhaus Sports Representation in the summer so it could manage his NIL opportunities. It was through RSR, Chris said, that Carter was able to be best compensated for NIL.
“James Franklin specifically should be able to go out and get 10 Abduls at different positions just like Ohio State does. He’s not able to do that,” Chris said. “He doesn’t have the bank account that Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia and even Oregon does. As far as my kid? Sure, we’re fine. I don’t want my son to be rich, I just wanted my son to be compensated for his NIL, and we found creative ways to do that outside of Penn State. For example, getting an NIL deal with RSR.”
This season, Chris has tried to learn as much as he can from Rosenhaus knowing that it’ll be up to Carter to decide when the time comes who represents him in the NFL. The family watched last season as offensive tackle Olu Fashanu, now a rookie with the New York Jets, and his family went through the process of selecting an agent.
Chris said he respected how Franklin doesn’t try to talk first-round picks into staying at Penn State another year. Much like how he said Franklin told him there would be a chance — but no guarantee — that Carter would have NIL opportunities when he was recruited, Franklin also told him that the program could help Carter get to the NFL.
The NFL dream could be near, but so too are Playoff opportunities for Carter and the rest of Penn State’s highly coveted 2022 recruiting class. That group was highlighted by players like Carter, Drew Allar, Nick Singleton and Dani Dennis-Sutton. All are instrumental this postseason. Penn State hasn’t been back to the Big Ten Championship Game since 2016 and has never cracked the Playoff field.
If the Nittany Lions are about to make history, they’ll need No. 11 to be every bit as dominant as he has been the last month.
“His effectiveness at linebacker has transitioned to on the defensive line,” defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. “Teams have to game plan for Abdul Carter in terms of chippers, sending a slide that way, (he’s) been integral to how we’ve been playing.”
(Top photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
