Penn State All 105: Tha (Abdul) Carter III

Over his first two seasons at Penn State, Abdul Carter has established himself as one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten.

At linebacker, Carter wore Penn State’s famous No. 11 proudly.

He’ll still be doing that this season. But he’ll be playing a new position.

Carter’s the subject in our latest edition of All 105, a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player.

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 250 pounds 

Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Before Penn State: Abdul Carter began his college football career after four years at La Salle College High School.

Carter received all-state honors twice. He also helped his team to a 9-2 record and Philadelphia Catholic League championship in 2021.

He finished his senior season with 78 tackles, two sacks, 10 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

247Sports, On3, Rivals and ESPN all had Carter as a four-star recruit. Three of the four sites had him as a top 10 prospect in Pennsylvania (ESPN ranked him 11th).

Carter committed to Penn State on the last day of July 2021. He chose coach James Franklin’s program over South Carolina and Ole Miss.

2022: It didn’t take long for Carter to become one of Penn State’s best defensive players. He was ejected on the first defensive play of his college career Week 1 at Purdue on a Thursday night.

But Carter quickly overcame that and showed the college football world what he was capable of.

He finished the season with the team lead in sacks (6.5), tackles for loss (10.5) and finished second in solo tackles (36). He was one of four finalists for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.

Last year: Carter’s play earned him first-team all-Big Ten honors. He started All 13 games and ended the season with 48 tackles (25 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss, an interception at Illinois, 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, five pass breakups and five quarterback hurries.

Where he stands: Penn State moved Abdul Carter to defensive end over the offseason. He has the size and speed to make a smooth transition and be just as good, if not better than he was at linebacker. Even though Penn State lost Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac to the NFL, the duo of Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton should be formidable as well.

Carter hasn’t had a perfect offseason. Late last month, it came out that he was being charged with assault. It remains to be seen what consequences Carter will face.

A quote by Carter: “This is a chance for me to do what I do best which is get after the quarterback, play fast and I don’t have to think, just do what I do best and just get paid.” — Carter to reporters after this spring’s Blue-White Game on his move to defensive end.

A quote about Carter: “I think you can expect to see a lot of explosiveness. A lot of quarterbacks being sacked. That’s just something… he’s worked. I feel like he’s earned that right to be able to make that position change. I think he’s going to be dominant. I think he’s the type of guy, when he gets put in a position, whether he’s good at it or not, he’s going to keep working until he is. I think that’s definitely something that he’s going to dominate in.” — former teammate Curtis Jacobs on Carter at this year’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis 

More All 105s

RB Nicholas Singleton

QB Beau Pribula 

WR Tyler Johnson

CB Zion Tracy

WR Kaden Saunders

WR Trey Wallace 

S Zakee Wheatley

CB Cam Miller

WR Omari Evans

CB A.J. Harris

CB Jalen Kimber

WR Julian Fleming 

S KJ Winston

WR Liam Clifford

S Jaylen Reed 

LB Dom DeLuca