Barrett
Carter.
Barrett
Carter.
Clemson· 6'0"· 231 lb· 4.64s 40
"Carter is an athletic and fluid off-ball linebacker whose impressive coverage instincts and burst make him an impact player in space, but his undersized frame raises questions about his ability to consistently shed blocks."Pre-draft read
Carter is a movement linebacker who plays the game at coverage speed. He is at his best running with tight ends and backs out of the backfield, driving on throws in front of him from zone depth, and closing on screens; the 21 career pass breakups and three interceptions came from anticipation, not luck.
As a blitzer he times up interior pressure well and converts it into 12.5 career sacks. What he does not do is take on and defeat blocks. At 6-0 and 231 pounds with 32-inch arms, guards and tight ends who reach him cleanly wash him out of the run fit, and he compensates by running around contact rather than through it.
Carter is a natural fit for a modern 4-2-5 nickel defense that prioritizes versatile, athletic linebackers capable of covering multiple positions and gaps.
He projects as a Year 1 rotational Will linebacker with starter potential, eventually growing into a key component of a multifaceted sub-package defense.
He would be marginalized in a traditional 3-4 two-gap scheme that demands larger, less athletic inside linebackers.
His blend of coverage skills and tackling ability makes him an attractive piece for defenses aiming to counter spread offenses and tight end mismatches.
Barrett Carter 2024 Regular Season Highlights | Clemson Linebacker
Game film cut-up of Barrett Carter's Clemson tape.
Barrett Carter 2023 Season Highlights | Clemson LB💥
Game film cut-up of Barrett Carter's Clemson tape.
Barrett Carter Regular Season Highlights | Clemson LB
Game film cut-up of Barrett Carter's Clemson tape.
Carter was a four-year starter at Clemson and one of the more complete coverage linebackers in the class: 233 tackles, 33 for loss, 12.5 sacks, three interceptions and 21 pass breakups across 52 games, capped by first-team All-ACC honors as a senior. The production is spread across every phase, which is unusual for a linebacker who never weighed more than 231 pounds.
The athletic profile is quick rather than fast. He ran 4.64, which is ordinary, but the 4.41 short shuttle and the tape both say he changes direction better than that number suggests, and 22 bench reps and 32-inch arms give him a bit more play strength than his listed weight implies. The concerns are all about mass. He gets moved by pullers, and he can be locked up by a tight end at the second level.
The projection is a Day 3 nickel and dime linebacker who plays 60 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie because modern offenses live in 11 personnel, then earns the every-down job if he holds up on early downs. The ceiling is a three-down starter and defensive signal caller. The floor is a coverage specialist who comes off the field on short yardage.
- 01
Man coverage
Carter shows genuine man-coverage ability against tight ends and backs, making him a nickel-package weapon.
- 02
Route anticipation
He anticipates route concepts from zone depth, producing 21 career pass breakups.
- 03
Interior blitzer
Carter is a timed interior blitzer with 12.5 career sacks and 33 tackles for loss.
- 04
Short-area redirect
His 4.41 short shuttle time translates to elite short-area redirect ability on tape.
- 05
Four-year starter
Carter is a four-year Power Four starter with 52 games and no drop-off in any season.
- 01
Undersized frame
At 231 pounds, Carter gets washed out when a guard reaches him cleanly.
- 02
Block-shedding technique
His block-shedding technique is a work in progress, relying on avoidance over hand use.
- 03
Timed speed
Carter's 4.64 timed speed is ordinary for a linebacker valued for chasing in space.
- 04
Run fit angles
He will run himself out of run fits by taking aggressive angles from depth.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.64sp50
- Vertical
- 34.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 116inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.41sp50
- Bench
- 22repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Clemson | 13 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | Clemson | 13 | 64 | 5.5 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| 2023 | Clemson | 12 | 56 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | Clemson | 14 | 74 | 3.5 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Career | — | 52 | 233 | 12.5 | 3 | 21 | 2 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Honors
- First-team All-ACC (2024)
Undersized, instinctive starter who calls the defense and stays on the field for every snap.
Coverage-first linebacker whose processing and range made him the best in the league at the position.
Athletic subpackage linebacker whose lack of size keeps him a rotational and special-teams piece.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
This is the best value pick in the entire fourth round so far. Cincinnati took Carter at 119 and he did not stay a subpackage player: 17 games, 12 starts, the green dot from Week 6 onward, 106 total tackles, a sack, an interception and four pass breakups. Rookie linebackers rarely get the communication responsibility, and he got it in October.
The pre-draft read was that the coverage would put him on the field and the size would decide whether he stayed there. He stayed. The tackle volume says he handled early downs better than the 231-pound frame suggested he would, even if he is still not the guy you want stacked over a pulling guard. Year one already cleared the likely comp and is trending toward the ceiling. If the run defense keeps improving, Cincinnati found a long-term defensive centerpiece with a Day 3 pick.