Penn State Sports Magazine
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2 8 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 2 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M "You combine that with his physical traits, then you've got a chance [to be great]. There are guys that are physically ready but not mentally ready, or physi- cally ready and mentally ready, but not emotionally ready. He's really shown that he's been ready in a lot of those different areas. "It's been pretty cool," Franklin con- tinued. "I would say that we're not surprised, since we've been able to be around him and see and hear about his testing numbers when he arrived on campus and his approach in the weight room and with summer camp." Bouncing Back There are two other developments that stand out about Carter's first few months at Penn State. The first is that he has donned the pro- gram's iconic No. 11 jersey. There was no arrogance associated with him wanting to wear the number of the greats who came before him at Linebacker U, players such as LaVar Arrington, NaVorro Bow- man and Micah Parsons. Instead, it was a challenge he felt ready to accept — a challenge that so far he has met head-on. In addition, Carter has shown that he can overcome on- field setbacks. He did not let a ques- tionable targeting ejection on his first college snap dur- ing a Week 1 win at Purdue derail his season. Instead, he bounced back to make 5 stops against Ohio in Week 2 and has continued to elevate his play in the weeks since. Now, Penn State wants to continue developing him as a linebacker while finding more opportunities to exploit his pass-rushing abilities. Make no mistake, Carter still has room to grow. But, with 31 tackles (20 solo and 3.5 for loss) through Penn State's first seven games, he's evolving quickly. "We always say greatness is being con- sistently good," defensive coordinator Manny Diaz said. "Can you do it down after down? Can you do it every game? When you play a team like Michigan, they're going to ask you that question down after down. Playing well on de- fense for three-quarters of the snaps is going to be a bad day on defense. "Abdul really falls in that same boat. He certainly has made plays that have flashed, and as a result, his role is in- creased. We're trying to get him in more disruptive positions on the football field." Early Impacts The same can be said for two of Cart- er's classmates on defense, as well. Former On3 Consensus five-star pros- pect Dani Dennis-Sutton has been mak- ing more and more splash plays. He had 3 sacks and 10 total tackles through seven games while playing 15 to 20 snaps per game in the Lions' defensive end rota- tion. So far this season, Dennis-Sutton has been the Lions' second-best pass rusher, per PFF, trailing only sophomore Chop Robinson. In addition, defensive tackle Zane Durant has been making his presence known — if not on the stat sheet then definitely on film. He has graded out well, though his usage has declined in recent weeks after a busy September. "Both are very talented," Diaz said. "Dani and I were just watching film and talking about how he's really im- p r o v i n g . T h a t 's what's funny some- times. Defensive players are sometimes rightly or wrongly judged by numbers. Dani has popped out [because] he's got a couple of sacks. But even if he didn't A five-star prospect in Penn State's most recent recruiting class, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton has seen his playing time increase as the season has gone on. PHOTO BY DANIEL ALTHOUSE "He's freakishly fast, freakishly strong and doesn't have the body of a normal high school linebacker coming in." J A M E S F R A N K L I N O N C A R T E R