Andre Carter II NFL Draft Scouting Report

EDGE, Army Black Knights

Army EDGE Andre Carter II is an enticing defensive prospect who possesses the raw athleticism to attract the attention of defensive coaches across the league. This is a high-motor player and his presence at West Point is a damn near lock to ensure he’ll be a strong figure and presence in an NFL locker room. Carter has endured a production regression in 2022 but his upward mobility and growth as a player are sure to garner intrigue throughout the process. 

Originally an unranked recruit, Carter was a wide receiver and tight end at Westbury Christian High School in Houston. His transition to playing on the edge was aided by a redshirt season in 2019 in which he logged no varsity action before taking his first defensive snaps in 2020. In the time that has passed, Carter has enjoyed spurts of significant production. He was among the top-graded pass rushers in the FBS in 2021 and logged multiple tackles for loss in nearly half of his games that season. His production has since dipped. 2022 was a more challenging and trying campaign from that standpoint, but it does likely fall more in line with his NFL expectations as a player who is relatively new to the defensive side of the football and will need significant growth to become the player he’s capable of becoming.

On the field, Carter is a fairly raw prospect who needs to work on building out his pass-rush counters and construct more comprehensive plans to defeat opposing tackles. Carter’s preferred rush move is a Euro-step speed rush that looks to force a missed stun punch on the edge before transitioning to a reduced inside shoulder and trying to run the arc. Carter has some bright flashes of inside counters and quickness to cross the face of blockers who try to jump out and greet him in his wide-aligned two-point stance. Some of his best reps come as a slant defender either off the edge to squeeze runs off the backside or to crash inside across the face of a blocker to the play side and uncover in the backfield. These instances allow his linear athleticism to pop and push past lateral contact with overwhelming quickness. 

The Black Knights do move Carter around. They’ve asked him intermittently to reduce inside and play in tight alignments but he should be considered a 2-point stance player at the NFL level. Army also charged him with dropping into zone coverages, and while I do feel he is a sufficient level athlete to do this in the NFL, he’s likely better served to avoid these reps in the immediate timeline to allow him to fully focus on developing himself as a pass rusher. 

Carter is still clearly a developing talent, however. For his appeal with raw physical tools, he appears guilty of some errant hand placement, ineffective hand power, irregular pad level and leverage, and false steps out of the blocks as a rusher. His play at the point of attack is a phase of his game that will limit him early in his career, as he did not handle pressure or drive blocks with consistent success—he too often got caught with his pads above those of his opponents. Carter’s length is a major advantage but his punch placement negated some of the opportunities he had to really stun and dislodge offensive tackle sets, and as a result, too many of his perimeter rushes were stunted as angles steepened. He’ll need more power up top and better hinges in the lower half to unlock his full potential and be a consistent control player at the point of attack.

Carter is ultimately a developmental prospect who has some clear tools to work with and cannot be coached. That floor as a prospect affords him demand in the draft—he’ll be a commodity for the potential of what he can become, even though I do believe he is not close to realizing that potential any time soon. As such, I’d recommend an early-day-three valuation in order to properly reflect his upside and risk sufficiently.

Top Reasons to Buy In:

• Undeniable height/weight/speed standout athlete

• Exponential room for growth in a more football-centric environment 

• Slippery attack player who challenges blockers
• Super-high intangibles with educational background

Top Reasons For Concern:

• Does not illustrate polish with instincts of playing the position

• Lack of leverage and flexibility limit dynamic athleticism

• Needs dramatic improvement as a pass rusher with his rush counters
• Functional strength and ability on early downs is a question

Size (NFL Combine):

Height: 6′ 6 1/2”

Weight: 256 lbs

Arm Length: 33 3/8”

Hand Size: 9 3/8”

Athletic Testing (NFL Combine):

40-yard Dash: TBD

Vertical Jump: 30”

Broad Jump: 9′ 1”

Short-Shuttle: 4.36s

Three-Cone: TBD

Bench Reps: 11 reps

Ideal Role: 3-4 rush linebacker

Scheme Fit: Aggressive, penetration-oriented front

TDN Consensus Grade: 72.50/100 (Fourth-Round Value)

• Crabbs Grade: 72.50/100
  

Written By: Kyle Crabbs

Exposures: Wisconsin (2021), Wake Forest (2021), Liberty (2021), Missouri (2021), Coastal Carolina (2022), Wake Forest (2022), Connecticut (2022)

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