2023 Penn State football snapshot profile: No. 11 Abdul Carter
Going into the 2023 football season, Nittany Lions Wire will be looking at each scholarship player listed on the Penn State roster. Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for James Franklin this season.
We turn next to arguably Penn State’s top defensive player on the roster in 2023, sophomore linebacker Abdul Carter. The All-Big Ten second-team linebacker was named to numerous freshman All-America teams last fall after a stellar debut season on the field. For as much attention as is served to Penn State freshman running back Nick Singleton, and deservingly so, Carter’s freshman season was every bit as spectacular on the defensive side of the football. This could be another big season for the top linebacker in the program.
Preseason Player Profile
Syndication: York Daily Record
Hometown: Harrisburg, PA
Height: 6-0
Weight: 196
247Sports Composite Ranking
Syndication: York Daily Record
[4-stars] | [No. 10 in Pennsylvania] | [No. 28 overall linebacker]
Class of 2022
Class in 2023: Sophomore
Penn State crushed it in the Class of 2022 in keeping some of the state’s top players home in the recruiting cycle, and Abdul Carter was one of the major victories in that effort to keep the best from leaving the state. Carter committed to Penn State over South Carolina in the end, but Ole Miss and LSU were considered to be in the mix as well in the summer leading up to Carter’s commitment in 2021.
Career Stats
Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Games | Tackles | TFL | FF | INT | ||
2022 | 13 | 56 | 6.5 | 10.5 | 2 | 0 |
Abdul Carter wasted almost no time in getting involved in the Penn State defense, and before you knew it he was the team’s top defensive player on the field. Carter was the team’s second-leading tackler behind only Ji’Ayir Brown and he was the team’s second-leading player with 10.5 tackles for loss, behind only Adisa Isaac. Carter led the team with 6.5 sacks. He was just the second player in program history to record 10+ tackles for a loss and at least six sacks as a freshman, joining new defensive line coach Deion Barnes with that distinction.
Depth Chart Overview
Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Abdul Carter has already lived up to the hype and has upheld the honor of wearing the no. 11 jersey as the focal point of Penn State’s defense, so things are looking great with him back in the same position in 2023.
Carter will be back to flanking one side of the defense at linebacker with Curtis Jacobs back for another season on the opposite side. Those two make a great combo on the edges at the position, but Penn State still wants to cement the center of the defense at middle linebacker. Kobe King and Tyler Elsdon are the top candidates for the job, if not rotating shifts or assignments on the field. It is also expected that Carter will man the middle of the unit at times depending on the defensive package.
Carter will likely be backed up by some youth behind him with Keon Wylie the likely backup as a redshirt freshman. Freshman tony Rojas, who was enrolled for the spring, is also a player that could quickly ascend the depth chart behind Carter, so don’t be surprised if we see the rising star in action at times this fall.
