Carson
Vinson.
Carson
Vinson.
Alabama A&M· 6'7"· 314 lb· 5.12s 40
"A mountainous tackle with exceptional length and the raw strength to displace defenders, Vinson is a high-upside developmental project whose technique needs significant refinement to consistently handle NFL pass rushers."Pre-draft read
Vinson is a tower with a reach advantage, and almost everything good on his tape starts there. At 6-7 1/8 and 314 pounds with 34 1/2-inch arms and 10 1/4-inch hands, he sets deep, gets his punch out first and simply keeps rushers away from his frame. In the SWAC he could win reps by existing: extend, lock out, ride the rusher past the pocket. The kick slide is smoother than the size suggests, and he can climb to the second level on zone without falling off the block.
The technique underneath is unfinished. He plays tall because he is tall, and his knee bend disappears when a rusher converts speed to power, which is when the anchor gets tested and the pads rise. His hands are late and wide often enough that better defenders get inside his chest, and the strength he flashes is raw rather than harnessed. He is a set of tools -- length, feet, frame -- attached to a body that spent five years never facing an NFL-caliber edge rusher.
A scheme that focuses on an old-school gap/duo power run game, utilizing occasional boot-action and play-action concepts from a varied personnel grouping.
Vinson could serve as a high-upside swing tackle his rookie season before developing into a starting left tackle.
Vinson's current skill set would struggle in a purely pass-heavy Air Raid system that asks tackles to operate on an island consistently without run-blocking focus.
A strong run-blocker who can finish, Vinson has the potential to become a reliable starter with improvements in his pass protection technique and fluidity.
2025 NFL Draft Highlights: Carson Vinson | OL | Alabama A&M
Draft cutup of his final All-American season at left tackle.
Alabama A&M Player Drafted by Baltimore Ravens
Local coverage of the selection with game footage.
Vinson Invited to NFL Scouting Combine
Pre-Combine feature with SWAC tape.
Carson Vinson is a developmental swing tackle from Alabama A&M whose entire evaluation is a bet on projection. A two-star recruit out of Panther Creek High School in Cary, North Carolina, he grew into a five-year starter for the Bulldogs, logging 48 career starts at offensive tackle from 2020 through 2024. Neither Alabama A&M nor the SWAC publishes a per-season games-and-starts split, so the only verified figure is that career aggregate.
The honors came in his final year: first-team All-SWAC and FCS All-American in 2024, plus a Senior Bowl invitation that made him the first SWAC player invited since 2022. Mobile mattered more than the accolades. It was the first week of practice against consistent FBS-level talent, and evaluators watched to see whether the length translated when the rusher across from him could actually win.
At the Combine he measured 6-7 1/8, 314 pounds, with 34 1/2-inch arms, 10 1/4-inch hands and a 7-0 3/8 wingspan, then ran 5.12 with a 1.80 ten-yard split, jumped 28.5 inches and 9-3, and posted a 7.51 three-cone, 4.85 shuttle and 14 bench reps. The strength numbers are soft; the length and movement are not. Baltimore, a franchise with a long history of taking small-school linemen and building them slowly, spent pick 141 on him with no expectation of immediate snaps -- exactly the profile of a two-year project with a starter's frame.
- 01
Exceptional Length
34 1/2-inch arms, 10 1/4-inch hands, and a 7-0 3/8 wingspan on a 6-7 frame allow him to land first and steer rushers.
- 02
Smooth Kick Slide
He covers ground in his pass sets and can reach the edge against speed without lunging.
- 03
Athletic in Space
He climbs to the second level on zone concepts and stays attached on the move.
- 04
Five-Year Starter
He has 48 career starts at tackle, indicating significant reps and durability.
- 05
Competed at High Level
He answered competition questions at the Senior Bowl as the first SWAC invitee since 2022 and then tested cleanly at the Combine.
- 01
Level of Competition
SWAC edge rushers never forced him to play with consistent technique.
- 02
Plays Tall
He loses knee bend under duress, which compromises the pocket against speed-to-power conversions.
- 03
Functional Strength
He had only 14 bench reps and a 28.5-inch vertical, indicating strength well below his frame.
- 04
Late Hands
His hands are late and land wide, allowing rushers to get inside his chest before the punch arrives.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.12sp50
- Vertical
- 28.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 111inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.51sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.85sp50
- Bench
- 14repp50
Alabama A&M and SWAC records publish only the career aggregate of 48 starts at offensive tackle across 2020-2024; no verified per-season games/starts split exists, so seasons are left empty rather than estimated.
Enormous developmental lineman who takes three years to become a real contributor at a fixed spot.
Technically sound tackle who turns length and footwork into a decade of starts on either side.
Frame-and-flash project who never solves the anchor and lives on the roster fringe.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Rookie year in Baltimore: seven games as a developmental swing tackle. Starts and snap counts not published. No waivers, practice-squad stints or injured-reserve time.
Baltimore did with Vinson exactly what Baltimore does with small-school linemen: kept him, dressed him situationally and let him learn without pressure. He played seven games as a rookie in 2025, with no published start total or snap count, and the Ravens never exposed him to waivers or moved him to injured reserve. That is a quiet season by design. The value of a fifth-round tackle in year one is measured in weight-room progress and practice reps against a real edge rusher, not in Sunday production.
The trajectory from here is binary in a way most projects are not. He has the two things that cannot be coached -- 34 1/2-inch arms on a 6-7 frame, and feet that work in a pro-style set -- and he is missing the one thing that usually can be, which is anchor strength. If the added weight and knee bend show up by year three, he is a starting-caliber swing tackle who can play either side, and the league will pay him accordingly. If he stays a lockout-and-hope pass protector who folds when a rusher runs through his chest, the length becomes a tease and he settles in as a practice-squad body who gets called up when a line goes down.
Data note: Alabama A&M and SWAC records publish only the career aggregate of 48 starts at offensive tackle across 2020-2024; no verified per-season games/starts split exists, so seasons are left empty rather than estimated.