NFL draft: Everything we know about Abdul Carter’s injury, a potential Browns target

The Browns could be selecting the best player in the draft but a foot injury could be concerning

The Cleveland Browns own the second overall pick in this year’s college draft. A lot of speculation has been tied to this pick. One of the positions that the Browns need is a quarterback, while another is a stud pass rusher.

It has been assumed for quite a while now that the Tennessee Titans, owners of the first overall pick, will select University of Miami QB Cam Ward. This would then give Cleveland the entire roster of blue-chip college players at their feet.

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All-World pass rusher Myles Garrett has requested a trade from the Browns to a playoff contender. Browns GM Andrew Berry has stated publicly on more than one occasion that Garrett isn’t going anywhere. If the Browns drafted a gifted pass rusher with the #2 pick, that player, coupled with Garrett, would provide a formidable pass rush. If Garrett does indeed leave, that player would fill the need to have a dominant pass rusher, and Cleveland’s defense won’t be the same, but at least it would be prepared with a younger stallion.

So, it’s win-win.

Penn State DE Abdul Carter is ranked as the #2 player on most draft sites’ Big Boards and rated as the top pass rusher. It would make a lot of sense for the Browns to take Carter after the Titans choose Ward as their next starting quarterback.

If Garrett stays, the stud pass rushing bookend the Browns have been looking for all these years would now be in-house. Berry has attempted to fill that role plenty of times with Olivier Vernon, Chase Winovich, Jadeveon Clowney, and Za’Darius Smith. Instead of that bookend coming from a seasoned veteran, it would be manned by an elite rookie.

If Garrett is indeed traded, most likely it would be after June 1 when all the free agent pass rushers have been picked over plus the NFL draft has come and gone. This would mean Cleveland would have to rely on the rookie stud, with competition for the other outside DE coming from Alex Wright, Isaiah McGuire, Sam Kamara, Cameron Thomas, or Ogbo Okoronkwo.

In college, Carter is known as a game-wrecker. He is a problem on every down. Yes, he is that good.

This past season, Carter was voted Unanimous All-American, Two-Time First Team All-Big 10, Second Team All-Big 10 as a freshman, and named the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year.

For his college career, he had 172 total tackles with 68 this year, 41 tackles for loss with 24 in 2024, 23 sacks of which 12 came this year, with 13 batted passes, five forced fumbles, and one pick. He led the nation in tackles for loss.

If the Titans select Ward as expected, then for Cleveland, there are just two choices of best player available: Carter or WR/CB Travis Hunter of Colorado.

The exam process

At the NFL Combine, players go through a barrage of agility drills grouped with players of the same position. But the first thing that happens is that each athlete is sent to the hospital to be examined by doctors.

This process is one of the most important aspects of the Combine. It is also part of why there is an event like this to begin with.

Before the Combine was invented, teams would send coaches and scouts all across the country to work out players and have them tested by a physician. It was decided to hold these workouts in an ideal environment with the same conditions and in one location where all players would come to be tested, prodded, and probed by one set of doctors and share the costs.

The athlete’s medical examination is intense. The process is lengthy and comprehensive as they bend, fold, squeeze, prod, and test every aspect of each player’s body. Most athletes finish the exam without any issues or concerns.

Yet there are those that the medical team will find something that is either an existing injury concern or locate something unknown. On this one day, what the doctors find may turn into the single most important medical exam of that player’s financial life.

And it goes way beyond knees, joints, and shoulders.

Each exam is broken down into two evaluations: orthopedic examinations and internal medical examinations.

With the internal exam, doctors look at kidney, pulmonary health, liver, and cardiovascular conditions. This is done through blood work, EKGs, and stress tests to see what the heart can take and to look for any abnormalities, such as irregular heartbeats.

Existing conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma or diabetes are noted and not usually conditions that sound the alarm for doctors since most of these conditions are treated and maintained with medicine, diet, and exercise.

The orthopedic evaluations are performed in a similar manner. At the hospital the Combine uses, there are six exam rooms with six teams of medical staff. Each team is filled in on previous injuries and surgeries. Players have X-rays taken and other imaging studies conducted. One of the areas they examine is the lumbar spine to see if there may be a vertebral stress fracture, especially in offensive and defensive linemen.

For players with a known injury concern, their medical history is obtained and recorded. Their medical records are examined all the way to their elementary school years. Past injuries are examined for any lingering effects.

The amount of specialists on hand for these examinations is staggering: Internal medicine specialists, Cardiologists, Nephrologists, Pulmonologists, Endocrinologists, Interventional Pain doctors, Proctologists, Urologists, and Orthopedic doctors who specialize in treating the musculoskeletal system are just some of the doctors at the ready.

In the past, healthy athletes have arrived, and doctors have found several malignancies (cancers) during the Combine medical exams. Other findings have been undiagnosed heart problems, such as arrhythmias, and cases of sickle cell disease.

Anything that is deemed severe may not only affect the player’s draft status but may prevent him from receiving medical clearance, which would then eliminate his ability to play in the NFL until the issue is solved.

An athlete can ‘fail’ the medical portion of the combine, although that is rare. Conditions and situations can be found that are not known beforehand, and it may be the case that the athlete has been playing with it without any knowledge of its existence, especially if little or no pain occurs.

When an athlete completes the evaluation process, the Combine medical staff compiles the results and has a truthful discussion with NFL teams. Everything is shared. Club GMs and coaches want to understand how significant of a risk a player is based on his medical history and get an understanding of why one athlete had a ‘C’ grade while another was rated a ‘B+.’

The foot injury

On Carter’s first day in Indianapolis at the Combine, his Wednesday night hospital visit did not go as planned.

During the Orthopedic phase of his medical evaluation, a “stress reaction” was located in his right foot. After the news, the opinions were varied on whether Carter would need surgery now, during the summer, or at all.

According to a simple Google search, a stress reaction in the foot is:

“A ‘stress reaction’ in the foot refers to a localized area of bone pain and potential swelling caused by repetitive stress on the bone, often from overuse in activities like running, where the bone is experiencing microscopic damage without enough time to heal, essentially acting like a “bone bruise” before progressing to a full stress fracture if the stress continues; symptoms usually improve with rest and can be felt in the midfoot, particularly around the metatarsal bones.”

If anyone has ever gotten shin splints, this sounds a lot like that condition, especially the portion about healing with rest. It is repeated stress on the bone, especially with weight-bearing activities such as playing football.

Get this: a stress reaction can develop into a full stress fracture or microscopic damage to the bone. How is it cured? Rest, ice, and elevation of the foot.

Maybe Carter has felt the pain of this all along. Who knows? Athletes have different levels of pain and tolerance of pain. You can play with shin splints and mask the pain with topical ointments such as Icy Hot or Ben Gay, but the condition doesn’t go away. It just comes back the next day when the activity begins again, and another layer of ointment is needed. Rest is what makes it go away completely. But as a football player, after a game, there is maybe one day of rest before the next practice session begins, which is usually a string of days.

On Thursday morning, Carter consulted with doctors. It was determined that he would not undergo surgery after the doctors advised against it.

So, the questions remain: Does he need surgery and just isn’t going to go through that process? If he does need surgery, is he going to wait until after the 2025 season? Or maybe right after he is drafted? How will this condition affect his rookie year? Is it a condition that is solved with surgery? What would be the rehab timeline? Will this injury create any long-term difficulties?

It is a potential eight-week recovery if surgery becomes an option which would involve inserting a screw into his foot. This means that even after being drafted, Carter would be healed in time for most OTAs and certainly training camp.

Carter has announced that he will work out at Penn State’s Pro Day on March 28, and since the doctors have stated he should avoid surgery, Carter considers the stress reaction to be a “nonfactor” in where he should be selected in this year’s draft.

Of course, this isn’t Carter’s only injury issue. He is already nursing a shoulder injury he suffered during the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in December against Boise State.

At the Combine, he has announced that he will not be doing any drills or workouts but will participate in team interviews, media interviews, meetings, and written/oral tests.

What should the Browns do?

If Berry does indeed select Carter with the second overall pick, and he either has surgery on his foot or he doesn’t and the injury doesn’t bother him or alter his ability to be a dominant pass rusher, then great.

Do you still draft a player with known injuries?

Or do you take a hard pass and hope your decision is correct?

Many, many, many players have long careers without any major health or injury issues like OT Joe Thomas. Some can’t complete a full season like former Browns MLB Anthony Walker, who was hurt all three seasons in Cleveland, then signed with the Miami Dolphins and was injured there. There is no way to predict the injury bug.

Here is an alternative pass rusher: DE Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M.

Coming out of high school, he was ranked the #9 prospect in the nation (regardless of position).

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The dude is a beast and lit up the Senior Bowl. For the first two practices, he showed he was an elite pass rusher, then left Mobile, Alabama before the last two practices and did not participate in the game.

Stewart is 6’-6” tall and was a meaty 290 pounds in his last college game. Now, he has dropped some weight and registers 267 pounds.

Stewart did a deja vu at the Combine. He impressed scouts and coaches and then left. The word is that he tweaked his hamstring during his first attempt at the 40-yard dash, in which he registered a 4.6. But during his second attempt, he ran a 4.59, so figure that out.

Thursday was the day for linebackers and defensive linemen to do drills and run. Stewart had a 40” vertical, 1.58 seconds in the 10-yard split, and went 10’-11” in the broad jump. His hands are 9 5/8”, his wingspan 83 1/2,”, and his arm 34 1/8”. He did not participate in the 3-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle, or the bench press because of the hamstring issue.

His eye-popping numbers are being compared to fellow A&M alum Myles Garrett.

What is Stewart’s goal going into the NFL? To win Defensive Player of the Year. Now, that is focused on the next step. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler stated that Stewart “stamped himself as the best player” at the Senior Bowl.

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Stewart has a ranking of #20, so if the Browns want him, they would need to trade down perhaps twice. Here is how that would work. The Browns trade down to around #5 or #6 and pick up a second-round spot and a lower round selection, such as a fifth. Next, trade down again to the #20 slot and grab Stewart while at the same time picking up a third and fourth-round pick.

Or what if Berry can’t decide what to do?

Just about every 2025 NFL draft Big Board has Travis Hunter listed #1. After the Titans take Ward, the Browns could just select Hunter and be done with it. That’s pretty safe.