This time last year, Abdul Carter was a relative unknown.
Everyone at La Salle College High School outside Philly knew what kind of prospect he was. There was buzz around the freshman linebacker inheriting the No. 11 jersey. But few could predict the kind of season Carter would go on to have.
Now, Carter isn’t a secret. He’s one of the best players in the country. And that’s how he’s going to have to play if Penn State is going to reach the heights it aspires to.
“He’s bigger, stronger, more confident,” coach James Franklin said earlier this week. “Abdul is a perfect example of a guy who in the second half of the season took off. He’s really kept that momentum through spring ball and summer camp. We expect him to have a big year for us. We need him to have a big year for us.”
Franklin said Carter is in “a much more confident place” now compared to where he was entering his true freshman season. Carter agreed with that sentiment.
Carter got off to a hot start last year. He burned his redshirt in the first five games, exploded in Penn State’s statement win over Auburn and continued from there. He led the team with 61⁄2 sacks and ranked second with 101⁄2 tackles for loss. He also chipped in five quarterback hurries, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
Carter felt himself getting more and more acclimated to the college game and Manny Diaz’s defense as the 2022 season wore on. He was confident in his abilities early and played off that. But the more reps he got, the better he was.
“The more I was in the game, I saw a lot of different things. You start to notice more,” Carter said, before giving props to Diaz’s coaching. “He breaks down the game in a way that’s easy to understand. We’re not really thinking too much out there.”
A lot of what Carter had to do last year was react. That was on full display when he was chasing down running backs, sideline to sideline.
But now that he’s older, Carter has taken more of a leadership role in the linebacker room, Franklin said. He’s grown into his body a bit more, playing at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds. And he has a better grasp of not only what Diaz wants him to do within the defense, but why.
Carter emphasized that Penn State’s defense is “trying to find the next step to make us elite.” Sacks, TFLs and pass breakups — all of which Carter can provide — help.
“But I think it’s something deeper than that,” Carter said. “It’s how we trust each other, how we communicate and how we believe in each other.”
And after what he did last year — and what he has planned for 2023 — it’s easy to believe that Carter is one of the best linebackers in college football.
