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Abdul Carter calls himself an elite player, the best one on the Penn State football team. He says he can subdue all challengers.
That’s when it comes to chess.
“Football is like chess,” said Christopher Carter, Abdul’s father, who taught him how to play both. “He has to be able to think, not just be athletic. You can’t play football by just being athletic. You have to be athletic and smart. That’s why he had to learn to play chess, to make him a better football player.”
Carter, a linebacker, wants to dominate on the football field like he dominates on the chess board. He made spectacular plays last season when he led the Nittany Lions with 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles and was named a Freshman All-American. He was a primary reason why Penn State had one of the top defenses in the nation.
Now, of course, he has higher aspirations for himself and his teammates.
“As a team we obviously want to win a national championship,” Carter said. “It starts with West Virginia (in the Sept. 2 season opener). Individually I want to be a unanimous first-team All-American and win the Butkus Award (which goes to the nation’s top linebacker).”
The 6-3, 249-pound Carter says that confidently and not arrogantly. He already has been compared to some of the greatest Penn State linebackers, including Butkus winners LaVar Arrington and Paul Posluszny.
He wears No. 11 only because the number (22) he wore at La Salle College High School in Philadelphia has been retired at Penn State in honor of 1973 Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti. But he’s a proud member of Stix City, the informal club that includes Arrington, NaVorro Bowman and Micah Parsons, outstanding linebackers who also wore No. 11 for the Lions.
“I asked for No. 11 because it was the name of the street where I was born and raised,” Carter said. “I really didn’t know much about Micah, LaVar or NaVorro until I actually got to Penn State. I’ve met LaVar a couple times. We’re really close.
“But it’s just a number. I go about my business like I’ve always gone about it.”
Carter stood out at La Salle, where he was a three-time All-Catholic League pick and where he earned a four-star recruiting rating. But he was ranked no higher than eighth in Penn State’s Class of 2022 by On3 and was as low as 13th in rankings by 247 Sports.
He decided not to enroll until after his high school graduation last year, which could have slowed his development. It’s safe to say now that it didn’t.
“All the freshmen say they want to play, but not all of them really understand what it takes,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “He had a very mature approach from the time he stepped on campus. He was already college ready in terms of his body.
“He was able to pick up the system quickly. He has the ability to find the ball. You can teach those things, but some guys naturally have it. Some guys have to work at it, but he has the ability to find the ball.”
Carter’s college career did not have an auspicious start. He was called for targeting on one of his first plays in the opener at Purdue and ejected.
“I used it as a learning opportunity,” he said. “I was still in the mindset that I could just run and tackle however I wanted. I moved on and got better from that point.”
Two weeks later at Auburn, he broke out with six solo tackles, a forced fumble that was recovered by Penn State and his first career sack in a 41-12 win. He showed a tremendous burst of speed and quickly drew comparisons to Parsons. He struggled, though, over the next several weeks and was still unable to crack the starting lineup.
“He was still just learning his way,” said defensive coordinator and linebacker coach Manny Diaz. “I think after the Auburn game, when he made some splash plays, you can see the next week that the little stuff wasn’t there. … You could kind of see that maybe he tried to do things his own way.
“When you’re really talented and you make the game simple and you play simple, your talent shows. You don’t really have to guess or invent stuff. Your talent will just take over. I think that’s been part of his understanding.”
After Michigan ravaged Penn State for 418 rushing yards in a 41-17 blowout, Carter started for the first time against Minnesota and made a career-high eight tackles in a 45-17 romp. He was in the lineup for the rest of the season.
“When he got elevated to the first team, that was a big step,” Diaz said, “that ability to hang in there and prepare like a starter. That does a lot for a true freshman, especially for one without a spring practice. When he saw himself as a starter, he realized he had to do things the right way for the defense to perform at a high level.”
And it did. With Carter in the lineup, the Lions held six of their final seven opponents to 21 points or less and 391 total yards or less. At the end of the regular season, he was selected to the All-Big Ten second team by the media and to the third team by the coaches.
As the Rose Bowl against Utah approached, it became clear that the Utes knew what damage Carter could inflict.
“I know No. 11 (Carter) is a premier player in the country,” Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said then. “He wreaks havoc in everything he does. That would be the one player that jumps off the screen at me. He’s lights out.”
Carter was credited with only one tackle perhaps because the Utes tried to avoid him. But that one tackle — stopping running back Micah Bernard for no gain in the second quarter — sent a message after Bernard said Carter didn’t like to be hit.
He also stayed step for step with Utah tight end Thomas Yassmin on a pass that was errant. He showed off his speed several times earlier in the season, whether it was sacking Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or running across the field to hurry Maryland’s Taulia Tagovailoa.
“Abdul’s versatility is certainly an asset to our defense,” Diaz said. “He could play inside the box and play the run well. He can cover. We can use him as part of our stunt package on third down. He has a lot of ways to effect winning.”
Carter’s discipline and fearlessness make him special, according to his father, who played football at Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia and Bloomsburg University. When Abdul was in grade school, his father thought his son could become president or a senator.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my dad,” Carter said. “He’s coached me since I was 8. I trusted his plan and his workout plan. He was like my trainer off the field. When I wasn’t with my team, I was with him, running hills and lifting weights.”
Carter played basketball in high school, but football is his passion. His father has nicknamed him “Incredible.” Carter, his father and Diaz all used the same word in describing what he can accomplish this season.
“Don’t take this as arrogant,” Christopher Carter said, “but he’s going to dominate this year.”
Abdul Carter says he needs to improve his preparation and learn Penn State opponents better so that he can play faster and be “more dominant.”
“He’s got a chance to be a dominating football player,” Diaz said. “Abdul has enough in his game with his talent. He’ll be able to make plays that help us win football games similar to what (safety and third-round draft pick) Ji’Ayir Brown did a year ago. Those were game-winning plays. Abdul has that ability to help us the same way.”
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