2025 NFL Draft: Abdul Carter’s 3 Best Fits, Predicted Destination
Abdul Carter was arguably the best defensive player in the country last season, and has a case to be the No. 1 overall player in the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Defensive players impact the game just as much as the quarterback,” Carter told reporters at the NFL Combine. “All the teams that have won Super Bowls, they have that one standout player. I feel like I’m that.”
Carter was a menace for Penn State last season, leading the entire nation in tackles for loss (24) in earning First Team All-American honors.
“I feel like it’s very realistic,” Carter said of his chances to go No. 1. “I feel like I’m the best player in the country and the best player should be picked first. It’s the work I put in with my dad, who trained me, and all the sacrifices I made, I know I’m the best.”
The two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection led the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff’s Final Four and the third-most pressures (66) and the seventh-most sacks (12.0) in the entire FBS last season.
Carter made the switch from linebacker to edge rusher prior to the start of last season in Tom Allen‘s defense, playing 300 snaps at defensive end compared to 317 at outside linebacker and 87 at inside linebacker.
He is projected to be an elite pass rusher at the next level but with so many teams needing quarterback help and only two legitimate high first-round candidates in this coming April’s draft, I don’t see Carter being selected No.1 overall unless the teams at the top of the draft, who already have a quarterback, don’t trade out with teams in need of one.
Carter’s draft stock was dealt some uncertainty when his medical evaluation at the NFL Combine revealed a fracture in his right foot, but, not everyone believes it will cause him to slide come April.
“Admittedly, I don’t have all the medical information yet,” an NFL general manager tells NFL Reporter Matt Lombardo. “But this isn’t the type of thing I’d expect to impact his draft stock.”
All 32 teams could use a game-wrecking edge rusher.
But, here are three logical landing spots for the Philadelphia native.
No. 3 – Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans have the first pick and while an edge rusher is on their wish list they might have a bigger need at the quarterback position as their top pick from last year, Will Levis lacked accuracy, and situational awareness and didn’t handle pressure well.
But, they could use Carter as they finished tied for 29th last sesson in sacks (32.0) and 29th in pressure rate (28.9).
If Tennessee doesn’t trade out of the No.1 spot and goes best player available, that player may be Carter.
No. 2 – Cleveland Browns
Let’s just get this out of the way right now. Every year the Cleveland Browns are in need of a quarterback.
But, since the organization’s biggest weakness is their inability to either draft or trade for the right one and they have the most expensive one on the planet on their payroll in Deshaun Watson so let’s just assume they’re not going to address their quarterback situation and continue to let a horrific decision get worse.
However, they did land one of the best edge rushers in the business in Myles Garrett with the first overall pick back in 2017. Unfortunately for the Browns, Garrett has requested a trade. Although he has very little leverage because he’s still under contract with Cleveland, the Browns asking price might be too high for the market to bear.
But if the Browns do accommodate his trade request then help off the edge, where they are already thin in depth, becomes Cleveland’s clear number one need, even with a QB situation that requires fixing.
While the Browns always seem to need a quarterback, they also need depth at edge rusher. This is where Carter could be a prize selection at No. 2 overall, especially if Tennessee goes quarterback or takes Colorado’s WR/CB and Heisman winner Travis Hunter at No. 1.
1. Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers had the worst defense in the NFL last season, and one of the worst pass rushing units.
They finished 32nd in the NFL in pressure rate (25.2%) and 29th in sack percentage (5.7%), so it’s obvious that they badly need an elite pass rusher to be the centerpiece of their rebuild on that side of the ball, as it appears that the other side of the ball is heading the right direction with the resurrection of last year’s top overall pick in quarterback Bryce Young.
Carter most likely won’t be around by the time the Panthers pick at No. 8 so they would have to be hyper-aggressive and trade up into the top five somewhere to better their chances of landing Carter. The Panthers need help at multiple positions, but with a franchise quarterback seemingly in place, Carter is a natural fit for Panthers’ defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s unit.
Prediction: Abdul Carter to the Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are one of those teams that make their mistakes worse by not making them better.
They throw good money after bad and are afraid to take the enormous cap hits that stem from their bad decisions so they tend to let bad moves linger until they smell like human decomposition.
It is for this reason that I don’t think the Browns will dip into the quarterback cookie jar to attempt to remedy their issues at the position.
That combined with the likely departure of Myles Garrett and I think Abdul Carter ends up in the city that is snidely referred to as “The Mistake on the Lake”.
MORE Penn State Football News from NittanyCentral:
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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