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2015 NFL Draft: Alex Carter Scouting Report

By Jonah Tuls

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October 10, 2014; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal cornerback Alex Carter (25) during the second half against the Washington State Cougars at Stanford Stadium. Stanford defeated Washington State 34-17. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Alex Carter is one of the hottest commodities in a deep cornerback class in the 2015 NFL Draft. Before I dive deep into his game, I will show you his athletic testing numbers like always from Mockdraftable.com

STRENGTHS

In my opinion, Carter’s best strength is when he plays in off-man coverage. To play off-man coverage, the player must be technically sound and to me, that’s Alex Carter. Everything he does mechanically is not great, but solid, and that is what you need from a starting cornerback. As a patient player, he lets the play develop in front of him before taking a chance. But when he does take his chance, his ball skills are pretty good.

What will intrigue scouts the most is his size/length for the position. In today’s NFL, the league wants tall cornerbacks because of the recent success of guys like Richard Sherman, Brandon Browner, and Jason McCourty. He is about 6’1 with fairly long arms, and with this length, his ability in press coverage could be that more dangerous. He was already an outstanding press cornerback, but with this length available to disrupt the receiver’s route to the ball, some NFL teams will be salivating if Carter is on the board in the second round by the time they pick.

My favorite part about Alex Carter is of how well rounded this kid is. He takes solid pursuit angles to the ball in run support, as well as finishing the tackle. He also attacks the ball at its highest point to disrupt it from going into the receiver’s hands. His smoothness and patience for the game are unmatched as well. To me, it just feels like that Carter has the innate feel for the game. Overall, I honestly cannot find a major flaw in his fundamentals, he just does everything the right way, and that is what I would want in a football player on my team.

WEAKNESSES

Carter has adequate athleticism, but could improve in this department of his game. He doesn’t have the top-end speed or jumping ability of most cornerbacks, but again, that’s not how he plays either as he just gets the job done. However, I would be a bit worried if he went up against speed demon wide receivers like Devin Smith because I question his recovery speed. His lack of recovery speed was definitely exploited on tape some times as receivers blew by him on several occasions.

I said earlier that Carter was a patient player, and that is both a good thing and a bad thing. He gives up a lot of separation on routes and doesn’t like to take a chance on the big play. One of my pet-peeves for a cornerback is being conservative. The difference between playing conservative and patient is that by playing conservative, you’re playing scared, by playing patient, you’re playing smart. I saw a bit of both, but it seemed like on faster receivers, he tended to let them get the inside routes all day because he was afraid of their ability to run by him.

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His inability to “mirror” the receiver also worries me. Like most young corners, he lacks the hip flexion required to keep up with a sharp route runner. Both he and Trae Waynes struggle with this. I feel like they both know where the play is going to develop, but they don’t have the reaction ability in both their quickness in feet or hips to get to it.

IDEAL SCHEME FIT

Cover 3/Press Coverage

POSSIBLE TEAM DESTINATIONS

Seattle Seahawks

Alex Carter would be an outstanding fit in what Seattle does defensively. They just lost Byron Maxwell to the Eagles, but I believe that Carter can fill in right away in that Cover 3 Press Coverage scheme and contribute immediately as the next member of the Legion of Boom. Also he is from Stanford by the way.

Dallas Cowboys

Carter to the Cowboys at 60 would make a whole lot of sense considering that they play a whole lot of off-man coverage, which is one of Carter’s strengths. He can jam the receiver successfully as well as shedding the block to make the tackle. I think this match made in Heaven if Carter teams up with Marinelli and the ‘Boys, but hey, that’s just the diehard Cowboys fan in me.

ROUND PROJECTION

In my opinion, Alex Carter is a top 60 player with the talent to start right away in the right scheme at either cornerback or safety to believe it or not. His length not only gives him an advantage in press coverage, but also gives him a bit of position flex. Overall, I believe that, despite my love for Alex Carter, he is more likely to go in the late second round to early third round contrary to my grade of him as a early to mid second round prospect. Stay tuned for more defensive backs coverage on NFL Mocks from me, Jonah Tuls, up until the 2015 NFL Draft.

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