NFL Draft

1/9/25

5 min read

2025 NFL Draft: Penn State Edge Abdul Carter is Worth No. 1 Pick

By James Foster

NFL Analyst
Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter (11) reacts after sacking Maryland Terrapins quarterback MJ Morris (not pictured) during the first quarter at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter (11) reacts after sacking Maryland Terrapins quarterback MJ Morris (not pictured) during the first quarter at Beaver Stadium. Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images.

The Tennessee Titans have the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and face a difficult decision.

Quarterbacks Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are options, but neither is worth an early first-round pick. Travis Hunter would give Tennessee a playmaker with superstar potential, but cornerback is arguably the position they need to invest in the least this offseason. Trading back is clearly the best option, but I’m skeptical that teams will be willing to send a haul of picks to move up in this class.

That leaves Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter as the best choice if Tennessee decides to pick at the top of the draft. Since moving to Tennessee in 1997, the Titans have only drafted two edge rushers in the first round, Jevon Kearse in 1999 and Derrick Morgan in 2010.

Tennessee ranked 29th in the NFL with a 28.8 percent pressure rate this year, and Harold Landry is no longer suited to be a No. 1 edge rusher, so the Titans are overdue to invest in that position.

Why Abdul Carter Should Go No. 1

PASS RUSHING

Carter is an elite athlete with rare quickness, explosiveness, and bend. According to Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List, he runs a 4.48 in the 40-yard dash and has a 127-inch broad jump. He definitely projects as a weak-side edge and doesn’t have the size or frame of players like Shemar Stewart and Mykel Williams, but his weight (254 pounds) is still in the 37th percentile for edge rushers.

Carter has elite first-step explosiveness to threaten upfield as a speed rusher. His burst off the line of scrimmage immediately puts tackles into recovery mode and forces them to open their hips prematurely. Carter also has exceptional bend to turn the corner at tight angles and finish speed moves. He builds momentum as he rounds the arc and cuts off the blocker’s recovery path:

Carter was an off-ball linebacker in 2022 and 2023, and this year was his first season playing edge full-time, so it would be understandable if he was unpolished technically, but he’s already skilled with his hands and has multiple ways of winning as a pass rusher.

He uses a double swipe to defeat the blocker’s outside hand:

He also wins the outside track with a stab-swipe move. The initial strike with the inside hand influences the blocker to stop his feet and anchor against a long arm. Once the tackle punches, Carter hooks and rips underneath the outside hand and flattens to the quarterback:

In one of his most dominant reps of the season, Carter gets a sack with a ghost move. He initiated his rush with stutter steps before abruptly flashing his inside hand and drawing out a response from the tackle.

He then transitioned into a speed rush and dipped his shoulder to reduce the blocker’s strike zone and turn the corner with no resistance. Carter’s quick twitch allows him to rapidly change pace and direction and is similar to rushers like Micah Parsons and Nik Bonitto:

Carter has the best inside counter of anyone in this class. His vertical push forces tackles to overset, and his lateral quickness makes him nearly impossible to mirror when he crosses the tackle’s face. His most commonly used move this year was a face-up inside counter, sometimes paired with a club or rip as a finishing move:

He also recorded several pressures with an inside spin:

While Carter has average size for an edge rusher, he can channel his explosive first step into an effective speed-to-power move. I would have liked to see him use power more frequently this year, but he had a high win rate on a limited sample size:

The early success of Chop Robinson makes me confident that Carter can win with power in the NFL. Robinson is a similar athlete to Carter, and he rarely used a bull rush at Penn State, but he created consistent displacement against NFL tackles as a rookie.

RUN DEFENSE

Run defense is not Carter’s strength, but he can contribute on early downs, especially in a hybrid role.

He has incredible range to track down screens and outside runs. Penn State occasionally lined him up over the A-gap, and his pursuit speed and closing burst allowed him to chase the ball from sideline to sideline:

He’s a high-motor player who has flashed the ability to shed blocks on the line of scrimmage. He also had several nice reps taking on pullers behind the line of scrimmage:

His anchor is not strong, however, and he ends up on the ground too often in the run game:

While Carter doesn’t necessarily fit the mold of first-overall edge rushers like Myles Garrett and Travon Walker, he can absolutely return the value of that pick as a pass rusher.

Micah Parsons isn’t great against the run, but he might be the first player off the board if we redrafted the 2021 class. The 2025 Draft class is the weakest since 2013, so the value for anyone won’t look great when compared to previous years.

Tags: 2025 NFL Draft, Abdul Carter, NFL Draft See More

James Foster

NFL Analyst

James Foster is an NFL writer who creates film-based analysis of NFL players and teams. He previously worked for A to Z Sports.

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