INDIANAPOLIS -- Abdul Carter might not be a big talker, but he made his words clear at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"I feel like I'm the best player in the country," Carter said on Wednesday, "and the best player should be selected No. 1."
The Penn State defender had three brilliant seasons in college football and earned All-America status following a 12-sack season for the Nittany Lions in 2024. The 6-foot-3, 248-pound Carter has modeled his game after another PSU legend, Micah Parsons, and feels he can be just as dominant a defender as the Cowboys' star has become.
Does Carter believe he's deserving of being the first overall pick of the Tennessee Titans?
"They have the No. 1 pick, and I want to be the No. 1 pick," he said.
Carter, 21, won’t work out at the combine. He's been rehabbing a late-season shoulder injury that will prevent him from performing in Indianapolis, but Carter is planning to do the battery of workouts at Penn State's pro day on March 28.
Carter believes he'll be back at full strength soon.
"I'm really just starting to heat it up again," he said. "Just started training and working out again so the next couple of weeks are just me getting right, getting ready for my pro day to perform at an elite level.
"I think I'm about 90 percent right now. I feel like the next month, it's going to be really close to 100."
Once cleared, Carter believes he's the type of destructive defender the NFL is seeking. He's not married to playing just one spot defensively and is open to whatever plan a team has for him.
"Definitely defensive end or edge rusher, but I feel like I could play wherever my coaches need," Carter said. "Wherever they feel the need, that's where I'll play."
Carter touts his "ghost rush" maneuver as his go-to move but said he feels like pass rushing in general is his superpower. Asked if his lack of elite size might hinder him in the NFL, Carter shut that down pretty quickly.
"I've never been too small for anything my whole life," he said. "It's all about heart for me."
It has been a whirlwind few months for Carter. He returned from injury to turn in a massive performance in PSU's playoff loss to Notre Dame before declaring for the draft. Just in the past month-plus, Carter celebrated his 21st birthday and the Philadelphia native was able to watch his Eagles win the Super Bowl.
Carter referred to that game as "his last game as an Eagles fan" and said he'd be open to going anywhere that wanted him -- even the rival Giants, who are pretty stocked at pass rusher, with the No. 3 pick.
"Wherever I go, I want to earn it," he said.
But he's still shooting higher if he can get there. Carter wants to be the first pick in the draft.
"That's the ultimate goal," he said.
