We are now just three-and-a-half weeks out from the 2023 NFL Draft, and the Cleveland Browns will have to wait a long time to come on the clock after the trade for wide receiver Elijah Moore. However, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman included them in his recent mock draft despite not having a first round pick, and he sent them Army pass rusher Andre Carter II.
While Carter II did not test well at the NFL Scouting Combine, bulking up to 256 pounds but testing with subpar explosiveness, his production speaks for itself. He racked up 17 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks in 2021, adding another 7.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and 3.5 sacks in 2022.
Carter II is a complicated prospect. Coming from the Army Academy, Carter II had to meet weight requirements based on height. And at 6-foot-7, Carter had to stay thin. Also still in the academy leading up to the combine, Carter II could not hone in on training the way the rest of his cohort did.
Here is what coaches told Feldman about Carter II:
“He’s good. Really long. They just played him so wide. If you could get your mitts on him, he struggled. He didn’t have a great counter, didn’t have a bull rush. He was total speed.”
“That guy is almost goofy long. On video, coming into the game this year, I didn’t quite feel like he had the same presence as he did last year, but then he kicked our butt. On film, he doesn’t seem to have the twitchiness or have great power, but he’s so long that it creates some tough angles and leverage issues for blockers. It throws you off. My biggest question would be: Does he have the play strength in the run game versus the bigger bodies? Will he have the ability to hold up?”
A complicated evaluation, Carter II’s real play weight and ability to add muscle remain a complete mystery. The production is there, but his projection to the next level is a difficult one to project.
