One of the biggest storylines heading into this year’s NFL Draft is who the Cleveland Browns will select at No. 2: Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter? Especially since Cam Ward is already locked in as the top pick.
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While many Browns fans are excited about Travis Hunter’s versatility and his potential to address two key positional needs, the prospect of pairing Abdul Carter with Myles Garrett is also highly enticing. Such a duo would create a formidable defense that could be nearly impossible to breach.
However, Cleveland Sports analyst Garrett Bush doesn’t seem to have any confusion. In his eyes, the Heisman winner should be the Browns’ top choice.
That said, Bush is far from dismissing Abdul Carter. On the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, he emphasized that his support for Hunter doesn’t take away from Carter’s talent.
“Abdul Carter is still a beast, please don’t take me saying Travis Hunter is the pick that I would turn in as me bashing Abdul Carter—he’s nice, bro,” Bush clarified, while also admitting that he wouldn’t mind if the Browns ended up with Ward instead of Hunter.
“If I had to come out of here with Abdul Carter, I’d be okay with it… Am I going to be crying? No. It’s Abdul Carter, bro,” Bush continued. His reasoning is rooted in the necessity for “blue-chip talent” at the top of the draft.
“When you’re drafting in the top two, you have to come away with blue-chip talent. There’s no swinging and missing—you gotta come through with a playmaker… I got Travis Hunter right there, take him. I got Abdul Carter right there, take him,” explained the analyst.
For Bush, the bottom line is clear: if the Browns walk away with Abdul Carter, it’s still a win, although Hunter or Shedeur Sanders would be his preferred pick.
That said, it’s no secret that Carter’s chances of landing with the Browns took a hit after Myles Garrett’s record-breaking extension. This made the once unlikely possibility of Carter slipping to the Patriots at No. 4 a real scenario, especially with the top three teams in need of quarterbacks.
To stir the pot further, the Penn State DE himself expressed admiration for Patriots HC Mike Vrabel after their meeting at the NFL Combine: “Very serious, very upfront guy… He’s all about his business, which is what I like. He was really straightforward with me. I feel like I like him.”
Vrabel, for his part, was equally impressed, saying, “I don’t think he took too many of them, but I would say that the tape is dynamic. There’s a lot of great qualities of a disruptive pass rusher, very slippery, loose, sudden player, and it was a fun tape to watch.”
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on EDGE Abdul Carter:
“The tape is dynamic. There’s a lot of great qualities of a disruptive pass rusher. Very slippery, loose, sudden player. It was a fun tape to watch.”
(: @Patriots) pic.twitter.com/VpOjhgtktt
— New England Sports Fellow (@NESportsFellow) April 15, 2025
If Abdul Carter does land in New England, he’ll join a franchise eager for a new defensive cornerstone—and a coach who knows exactly how to utilize a disruptive force off the edge. And if he ends up in Cleveland, he’ll get to be mentored by the best defensive end in the league. So, no matter what happens, the real winner remains the Penn State star!
