Penn State's Abdul Carter Named Preseason All-American

Carter, the Nittany Lions' newly minted defensive end, earns place on Walter Camp Preseason All-America Team.

Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter signs autographs for fans during the 21st annual Lift for Life at Holuba Hall. / Dan Rainville/USA Today Network - PA /

Is July too early for preseason All-America teams? Absolutely not. Kudos to the Walter Camp Football Foundation for getting watch-list season started two months before the actual season.

The Walter Camp Football Foundation, which is responsible for the nation's nation's longest-running All-America Team, released its preseason version Monday. It included one player from Penn State: defensive end Abdul Carter, who is a two-time All-Big Ten selection at linebacker. The Walter Camp Football Foundation recognized Carter as a second-team linebacker, even though the Nittany Lion standout will play defensive end this season.

According to its news release, Walter Camp, who coached at Yale, is considered the "father of American football" who selected his first All-America team in 1889. The Walter Camp Foundation was founded in 1967 to continue selecting an annual All-America team.

Carter is Penn State's lone representative on the Walter Camp preseason team. Ohio State has five representatives, including running back Quinshon Judkins and safety Caleb Downs, both of whom transferred into the program this offseason.

Fun fact about the Walter Camp All-America Team: Penn State's Chris Bahr was the first kicker selected, in 1975.

RELATED: Abdul Carter signs with Drew Rosenhaus' agency for NIL representation

Abdul Carter makes the switch to defensive end

Carter approached the Penn State staff during the offseason about shifting from linebacker to defensive end. Head coach James Franklin agreed, having already considered Carter a prospect for the position.

"I remember when we recruited Abdul. I thought he was a defensive end, and Abdul and [his] dad were adamant that he was a linebacker," Franklin said. The reality is, we just wanted him in our program and knew he was going to be a really good player wherever he decided to play. But this wasn't really something from us. This was Abdul really wanting to make this move I think for a number of reasons, and we're excited about it."

Carter's move followed the departure of two defensive ends, Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac, to the NFL. The Nittany Lions have plenty of talent at the position, but adding a player as dynamic as Carter significantly enhanced it.

"Obviously we've lost some defensive ends this past year that were highly productive," Franklin said. "We feel really good about the current room, but obviously being able to inject Abdul into that room is going to be a positive for us as well. He was really kind of on the bubble of struggling to keep
his weight in a linebacker. Him and Kobe [King]. They've been right around 250, above or below, for a while. So I think his body was naturally telling him he could make the move if he needed to and wanted to, and there's an opportunity there. So having depth and talent and the type of length that we want at the defensive end position, I think this is going to be kind of a win-win for everybody.

"... I know Abdul is excited about it, and we're looking forward to have an opportunity to work with him, but it is a big change. He's never really done this before, and it is a big change. It's not just like you make the decision to move and you snap your fingers and automatically you're a defensive end. It's a different world the closer you get to the ball, just like it's a different world if you move back to the secondary. We're excited about watching his development and growth, and it should be exciting."

Penn State opens the 2024 season Aug. 31 at West Virginia. Kickoff is scheduled for noon ET on FOX.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.