PASADENA, Calif. -- I hate making comparisons between athletes -- such as, "This guy could be the next ... that guy."
I hate it because it usually seems disrespectful in some way -- either for the star player you're comparing someone else to, or the younger guy who really may not deserve the pressure of such a label.
But if you've watched Penn State play this season, you know as well as I do that the Micah Parsons comparison is absolutely fair and appropriate when we're talking about stud freshman linebacker Abdul Carter.
It's not just the fact that both wear/wore Penn State's hallowed No. 11 jersey, either. Although, visually, that does make the comparison easier.
Parsons is one of the 2-3 best defensive players in the NFL in just his second pro season, after playing two seasons at Penn State. Whether Carter can ever become that dominant is a gigantic if, but what we can say for sure is that Carter has looked just about every bit as good as a true freshman as Parsons did his first college season in 2018.
During his first media availability as a college player Saturday at Rose Bowl Stadium, Carter was asked when things kind of clicked for him this season.
"I don't think it clicked yet," he said. "I think I'm just getting started. There's a lot a lot more to see."
OK, so I followed up that comment by asking him, "When it clicks, how good can you be?"
"The sky's the limit," he said. "I don't even know myself."
Since we're comparing, Parsons was the much higher-rated recruit coming out of high school. A look at the two:
• Parsons: No. 1 player in PA in 2018, No. 5 player in nation, No. 64 recruit all-time
• Carter: No. 10 player in PA in 2022, No. 287 player in nation
See, right there, that's why comparisons sometimes stink, because Parsons came to Penn State with an incredible amount of hype, while Carter did not.
But, let's go to the numbers.
Which one of these guys had a better freshman season?
• Player 1: 13 games, 83 tackles (48 solo), 5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles
• Player 2: 12 games (with a giant asterisk), 55 tackles (35 solo), 10.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 4 passes defended
Player 2 here is Carter, and without question, he had the superior numbers as a freshman, save for overall tackles. Carter also missed basically the entire Purdue game after getting a questionable targeting penalty on the very first defensive snap of his college career.
Now look, Parsons has as good of a nose for the football as any young player you'll ever see. He showed that more his second season at Penn State with 109 tackles (52 solo) and is a monster all over the field now with the Dallas Cowboys.
The best compliment I can give Parsons is that I've never seen him miss a tackle. When he tracks you down -- and he's always tracking people down -- he then will finish you off with a tackle.
Carter showed that to a degree this season, but he didn't quite show the incredible gift for always being around the ball like Parsons was during his Penn State career.
Not yet, anyway. Again, Carter is still just a true freshman, and expectations will be through the roof for him next year to take the kind of giant strides forward that Parsons did in year 2 for the Nittany Lions.
Carter said he knew right away what the expectations would be for him at Penn State. He wanted to wear No. 22, but that was John Cappelletti's jersey and is retired, so he was handed No. 11.
The Sticks.
LaVar Arrington's number, many years before Parsons came along.
THE standard for a player at Linebacker U.
"Once I got it, I knew it was like, OK, they expect a certain level of play from me since I have the number," Carter said. "So, for the expectation, I just got a chance to leave behind my own legacy wearing it. I'm sure other the guys who wore it left behind their own legacy. I got a chance to do the same."
How important is that legacy element to him?
"That's very important," Carter said. "I want to leave my mark on his team, on this program for people coming after me to look up to try to do what I do."
Everyone in the Penn State camp has raved about Carter all season, from James Franklin, to defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, to all the defensive players on the team.
Diaz offered a good evaluation of Carter's mental growth and development this season.
"With Abdul, it's his preparation and understanding his role within the defense," Diaz said. "Early in the season, he flashed, and then the next week you could kind of see that maybe he tried to do things his own way. And then the next game he kind of locked in, flashed again. I think it took him one more game to really understand, OK, I just need to do my job. And if I do my job ... (the) physical attributes will be accentuated.
"That's really what, to me, helped him in the final six weeks of the season. I think that helped us as a defense in the final six weeks of the season, is that guys sometimes believe they have to put on a cape and do something special. And with his skill set, he just does his job, he will be noticed on the field."
It hasn't taken much film study for the Utah camp to notice Carter on the field, and realize he could be a force to be reckoned with in the Rose Bowl.
“I know number 11, the linebacker, is a premier player in the country," Utes offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said.
And quarterback Cameron Rising noted, “Number 11, he’s always going to be a guy that has the red lights around him.”
One of the more interesting awards scenarios involving Penn State players over the past month was that running back Nicholas Singleton was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but it was Carter who was one of three finalists for the Maxwell Football Club's national Freshman of the Year honor.
The point of that is running backs can be up for major awards because they have the ball in their hands a lot and can make highlight-reel plays, but if you really wanted to pick Penn State's best freshman, the majority of people who follow the program very closely would say it's Carter.
That's the kind of impact the freshman linebacker already has made. And man, if he can take his game to the next level over the next year or two the same way Parsons did, then we'll be talking about Carter as the latest in the long, long line of great Penn State linebackers.
The football part of all this can be left up to Carter to prepare himself as much as he can physically. But since Parsons just played at Penn State and is the guy most people are going to be comparing him to, I asked Carter if he will make a point to try and develop a strong relationship with Parsons so he can ask him about what to expect over the next year or two.
"I think that's something that's important in college football -- you can speak to the older guys who've done it before to get advice, ask questions that help you out in the future and just get to learn things that you wouldn't know without talking to other people," Carter said.
And if he were to ask Parsons for any advice, what would it be?
"I would just say how to stay consistent and master your craft," Carter said. "How to be dominant through every game, just knowing your assignment like the back of your hand, knowing what to do every play and how to stay consistent."
