After acting as a wall for Penn State and James Franklin. After landing 68 career-high tackles and a whopping 12 sacks. Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter is now all ready for the NFL draft. Every major analyst has kept the player at least in their top 5, and the player is also doing everything in his might to influence his stock. Except, there’s a slight hiccup in his ambitious plans.

Well, we all know about the foot injury Abdul Carter suffered later in the season. That could be part of the effect of the injury he suffered in the college football playoff on his shoulder. The recovery period was said to be long, and several times, it was reported that he would need surgery on his foot to get back to normalcy. This would set him back up to 8-12 weeks, depending upon the recovery period. And now it seems his injury has taken a new turn.

Daniel Jeremiah, an NFL Network analyst speaking on the Rich Eisen Show, provided a scenario about Carter’s injury, which affected his NFL Combine appearance. “There were the two options: you can kind of rest it and then still go through the process in the spring, or you could have the surgery; it kind of inquired, you know, if he has the surgery, it’s obviously a longer recovery.“ 

The recovery period for his foot injury seems to be longer than expected, as explained by Daniel Jeremiah. But now the latest intel points to the player bypassing the surgery as a whole in order to prepare for his appearance at the Pro Day at Penn State. This was also needed from the player’s need, as Carter reportedly consulted his doctors, who told him that a screw would be inserted in his right foot and was not advisable considering the situation of the draft. So, is Carter’s injury a concern for the NFL teams?

Well, Daniel Jeremiah also expanded on the issue of whether teams are concerned about the player’s injury or not. “I didn’t talk to teams that were too overly concerned there, you know. And it sounds like that’s a little more commonplace than maybe I thought, so I didn’t gather there was a a ton of concern there with him; but you know he goes to his Pro Day; we’ll see what that looks like. If he comes out of that looking good and feeling good, I think he’s not going to move on my list.”

To put context to that last line, Daniel Jeremiah has placed Abdul Carter to be his number one pick in the NFL Draft, followed by Travis Hunter, then Ashton Jeanty, Mason Graham, and then Tyler Warren. 

Abdul Carter locked on the Tennessee Titans?

This essentially means that Carter will not be leaving his Pro Day, which will make or break his case. Amongst the teams that are interested in Carter’s services, the Tennessee Titans stand out the most with their first pick and are reportedly vying for the services of the one-season edge rusher. This is because the player had also visited the team’s camp recently for his Top-30 visit and also posted about it on his X account. That alone has created a lot of buzz in the media about him going to the Titans.

Carter also cleared the air regarding his draft pick and picked the most coveted spot in the draft. “I feel like I’m the best player in the country, and the best player should be picked first,” he said. “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.” He even ended any speculation about his health and declared that he was 90% fit and would make his recovery quickly. The verdict?

Well, Carter is undoubtedly one of the top talents of this year’s NFL draft. And it is looking like the real deal. But we have seen several top players over the years who had their draft stock take a sharp U-turn following an injury. So that’s something Abdul Carter will have to watch out for and wade through cautiously.