Andre Carter II NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for Army Edge

HEIGHT: 6'6.5"

WEIGHT: 256

HAND: 9 3/8"

ARM: 33 3/8"

WINGSPAN: 82 1/8"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.91

3-CONE: 6.97

SHUTTLE: 4.29

VERTICAL: 30"

BROAD: 9'1"

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POSITIVES

— Great get-off/acceleration off the line of scrimmage to put pressure on offensive tackles vertically and win with speed as a pass-rusher.

— He also recognizes when tackles open their hips and has the change of direction, quickness and use of hands to win with an inside stick move as a counter off the speed rush.

— Also has a nice inside spin move as a counter.

— Limber lower half to clear his hip when working finesse moves.

— Active hands as a pass-rusher overall.

— Good bend to take an efficient path to the quarterback.

— Hustle player with the pass-rush motor to get coverage sacks.

— Has shown flashes of using his quickness to make offensive linemen miss against the run and defeat blocks with a swim move.

— Long arms and violent when shedding to help get off blocks from tight ends.

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NEGATIVES

— Thin frame and lacks strength for an NFL edge defender. He'll need to put on about 10 pounds of muscle to hold up at the point of attack against offensive linemen at the next level. That will help him turn speed to power as a rusher too.

— Wide hand placement as a run defender exposes his chest and compounds his strength issues. He'll get pushed around against the run at the beginning of his career.

— At the point of attack, he struggles to gain a leverage advantage with his height and lack of knee bend and takes on blocks with a narrow base.

— Needs to improve his angles and gap discipline versus outside runs. He'll take too shallow of a pursuit angle from the back side and likes to duck inside blocks on the front side.

— Has a habit of leaving his feet when tackling, leading to misses.

— Can afford to add a violent rip to the end of his pass-rush moves to get clean wins or keep offensive linemen from hanging/holding on to him.

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2022 STATISTICS

— 10 GM, 41 TOT, 7 TFL, 3.5 SK, 2 PBU

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NOTES

— No. 13 on Bruce Feldman's list of exceptional college athletes; 6'10" wingspan, 4.2-second pro agility test

— Not ranked in the 2018 recruiting class and received zero stars from 247Sports' composite rankings

— Injuries: 2022 (undisclosed, missed two games), 2017 (back, missed all but three games of senior year of high school)

— 25 career starts

— 2021 Honors: Third-team All-American (AP), ranked second in FBS with 14.5 sacks

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OVERALL

To say Andre Carter II has taken an unusual path to the NFL would be an understatement. After suffering a back injury that caused him to miss the majority of his senior season in high school, Carter went to a prep school where he played as an outside linebacker for the first time. He previously lined up as a wide receiver or tight end.

Even after shining at the Cheshire Academy in Cheshire, Connecticut, he wasn't a highly touted recruit and headed to Army, where athletes typically train to become cadets instead of professionals. But after finishing in second place behind Will Anderson Jr. for the most sacks in the country in 2021, Carter was firmly in the NFL draft discussion.

He hit another bump in the road when a congressional bill would've no longer allowed student-athletes from service academies to defer their service to pursue an opportunity to play professional sports. However, the bill was amended, which cleared Carter's path to the league.

The Army product is an excellent pass-rusher whose speed off the line of scrimmage will translate to the next level. He also has an impressive inside stick move and a handful of counters to keep offensive tackles guessing. There's little doubt he'll get after the quarterback at the next level, but his run defense is a big question.

Despite being listed at 260 pounds, Carter doesn't show a lot of functional strength and needs to add weight to hold up at the point of attack. He's solid at taking on blocks from tight ends, but NFL offensive tackles will have their way with him in the ground game.

He'll likely be a situational pass-rusher for his first year or two in the league as he'll need time in an NFL training program and weight room before developing as an every-down player. That bodes well for his potential, though, seeing as he received very different training from his Power Five counterparts.

Schematically, Carter would be best as a stand-up outside linebacker for a team that uses a lot of odd fronts. Until he gets more stout at the point of attack, he'll feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole as a hand-in-the-ground defensive end for an even-front team.

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GRADE: 7.4 (High-Level Backup or Potential Starter)

OVERALL RANK: 60

POSITION RANK: EDGE11

PRO COMPARISON: Mathias Kiwanuka

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Written by B/R NFL Draft Scout Matt Holder