Watching pro day, Abdul Carter reiterates claim as No. 1 pick

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With less than a month until the Tennessee Titans are on the clock with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, Penn State outside linebacker Abdul Carter is restating his case to be the first name called by commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I think just my overall impact on the game,” Carter said, making his pitch to be the No. 1 pick during Penn State’s pro day Friday. “My versatility. I can play multiple positions, and I feel like most importantly I step up when I’m needed the most when crunch time comes around. When you need somebody to make that big play, I feel like I’m the guy who makes that big play.

“At the end of the day, I make people around me better, just take them on double-teams bringing extra attention to me, freeing up somebody else so they can make the play and just my overall impact on the game.”

Though Carter attended the pro day with his family and agents Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey, the pass rusher didn’t participate in on-field workouts as he continues to recover from an arm/shoulder injury sustained during the College Football Playoff.

“Just me talking with my team, making sure, making the best possible decision for me and in my best interests,” Carter said. “Still recovering from my shoulder, pretty much a hundred percent now. But knowing that I had the best training to come out here, and I didn’t. So had to make the best decision for me.”

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Rosenhaus told Schefter on Thursday that Carter wasn’t going to participate in the workout, but Carter said he had been discussing the possibility for the “last couple of weeks.”

Testing at the NFL combine also revealed that Carter had a stress reaction in his right foot.

“I found out when they found out about it,” he said. “I never had no symptoms, no pain. Doesn’t bother me now. It didn’t bother me during the season. So whatever they feel necessary for it, I don’t feel any pain right now. No surgery or nothing like that.”

Carter, the No. 2 prospect on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board, was adamant that defensive players can be as impactful as a quarterback. Miami quarterback Cam Ward is ranked by many as the top draft prospect, and the Titans appear to be zeroing in on him with the first pick.

“Those great defensive players, you look in the history, they can impact the game just as much as a quarterback,” Carter said. “There’s been defensive players who’ve taken over a game right at the end of Super Bowl in those playoffs scenes where you really need that great defensive player and he also makes people around him better. So I feel like just saying that, seeing how defensive players can take over a game, we’re just like a quarterback.”